Over 51,000 households in the Transnistrian region have been left without gas, and nearly 1,500 apartment blocks have no heating or hot water. Additionally, residents are experiencing daily electricity outages. These issues arise amidst mutual accusations between Moldova and Russia over the escalating energy crisis, reports Reuters, as cited by the Romanian press.
The Transnistrian region has relied on Russian gas via Ukraine for decades to generate electricity, part of which was sold to the rest of Moldova, covering 80% of its energy needs, writes Agerpres.ro, quoted by IPN.
However, gas supplies were cut off on January 1, along with flows to Central and Eastern Europe, after Ukraine refused to extend a transit agreement that had survived nearly three years of war between Russia and Ukraine.
In a Telegram post, Tiraspol announced that 122 localities were left without gas on Monday morning, with minimal amounts being supplied to a few apartments for cooking. Authorities ordered schools to remain closed even after the holiday break, as at least 131 schools and 147 kindergartens were left without heating.
“There is no single person in Transnistria responsible for this situation—this is entirely due to external factors”, said Transnistrian leader Vadim Krasnoselski in a televised statement, cited by Reuters.
The Moldovan government summoned a Russian Embassy diplomat on Monday, accusing Moscow of falsely blaming Chisinau for the crisis on the left bank of the Dniester.
Prime Minister Dorin Recean announced during a briefing that water supply interruptions had also begun in the Transnistrian region on Monday. “Russia’s goal in all of this is to create instability in the region and, very importantly, to influence the results of Moldova’s parliamentary elections”, Recean stated.
Moscow’s Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the worsening situation in Transnistria and accused Chisinau and the West of artificially creating the crisis and wrongly blaming it on Moscow.
Since Russian gas was cut off on January 1, Moldova has met about 60% of its energy needs through imports from Romania. Chisinau claimed to have offered assistance to the Transnistrian separatists, but this offer was reportedly rejected.
The leader of Tiraspol dismissed claims of such an aid offer as "lies" and accused Chisinau of attempting to "strangle" Transnistria. "There have been no offers of assistance from (Moldova) or other states", Krasnoselski said, urging locals to resort to firewood for heating.
The Moldovan government blames the energy crisis on Russian energy giant Gazprom, which it accuses of refusing to supply Moldova with the contracted gas through an alternative route.
Gazprom stated it was halting exports to Moldova starting January 1 due to unpaid debts totaling $709 million, according to Moscow—a figure contested by Chisinau, which acknowledges only $8.6 million.
