Russia's decision to cut off gas supplies to Moldova has thrown the country into a "security crisis," Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Jan. 3.
The Russian state energy company Gazprom halted gas deliveries to Moldova on Jan. 1, triggering an energy emergency in the Russian-occupied breakaway region of Transnistria. The region now risks industrial collapse due to widespread power outages.
"By jeopardizing the future of the protectorate it has backed for three decades in an effort to destabilize Moldova, Russia is revealing the inevitable outcome for all its allies — betrayal and isolation," Recean said in a statement.
"We treat this as a security crisis aimed at enabling the return of pro-Russian forces to power in Moldova and weaponizing our territory against Ukraine, with whom we share a 1,200-km border."
Russian troops have occupied Transnistria since the early 1990s. While the rest of Moldova switched to European energy supplies after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the region remains heavily dependent on Russian gas.
Gazprom's suspension has left nearly 75,000 households without gas and another 116,000 with reduced supply, according to Sergey Obolonik, the first deputy chairman of the Transnistrian administration.
Transnistria has initiated rolling blackouts to mitigate the crisis.
While Moldova offered to assist Transnistria in purchasing alternatives to Russian gas via the European market, authorities in the region refused, saying they believed Gazprom would resume deliveries.
Gazprom has said that the decision to cut off gas to Moldova resulted from outstanding debts, an allegation Chisinau disputes.
A deal allowing Russian gas to transit to Europe through Ukraine also expired on Jan. 1, but Gazprom did not cite transit issues as the reason for the suspension. Moldova could still receive Russian gas supplies via alternative routes.
Chisinau has repeatedly accused Moscow of attemping to destabilize the country in order to bring Moldova under Russian control.
Paula Erizanu
(Updated: )
