Ukraine’s cessation of Russian gas supplies throws Transnistria into crisis

The breakaway region of Moldova Transnistria has been plunged into a deep energy crisis after the termination of a five-year gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the mainly Russian-speaking territory of Transnistria face the remaining winter months without heat or electricity after Ukraine stopped the flow of Russian gas to several European countries on New Year’s Day.

The widely expected shutdown, which was confirmed by Russian state energy giant Gazprom on Wednesday, marked the end of Moscow’s decades-long dominance over Europe’s energy markets.

Next to Slovakia and Austria, Moldova was thought be one of the countries most at risk due to the cessation of Russian gas supplies.

The landlocked country in the northeastern corner of Europe’s Balkan region declared a 60-day state of emergency last month over fears about energy security.

Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist enclave in Moldova, broke away in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, although it is still recognized internationally as part of Moldova.

The region has been forced to close almost all industrial companies, except for food producers, after the Russian gas supply was cut off on Wednesday.

“All industrial enterprises are inactive, with the exception of those engaged in food production, that is, directly ensuring the food security of Transdniestria,” Sergei Obolonik, the region’s first deputy prime minister, told a television channel on Thursday. local news outlet, as reported Reuters.

“It is too early to judge how the situation will evolve… The problem is so broad that if it is not resolved for a long time, we will already have irreversible changes, that is, companies will lose their ability to start operations. “

Until Wednesday, Russian gas reached Moldova through its neighbor Ukraine. However, neither Moscow nor kyiv had been willing to close a new gas transit agreement in the midst of the crisis. ongoing war.

Russia, which has transported gas to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines since 1991, has said European Union countries will be most affected by the change in supply. Moscow can still ship gas via the TurkStream gas pipeline, which links Russia to Hungary, Serbia and Türkiye.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, saying It has been working with the EU member states most affected by the end of the gas transit deal to ensure the entire 27-nation bloc was prepared for such a scenario.

Moldova, which is not an EU member state but voted closely in favor of closer ties with the EU in a referendum last year, is now facing a major gas shortage.

In Transnistria, the leader of the separatist region, Vadim Krasnoselsky saying via Telegram on Thursday that the situation “is difficult, but the social collapse is unacceptable.”

Krasnoselsky said more than 2,600 facilities in the region were currently without heat or hot water, of which more than 1,500 were apartment buildings.

He said on Wednesday that Transnistria’s main power plant had started using coal after the interruption of Russian gas supplies and estimated that the enclave had enough gas reserves to last 10 days of limited use in its northern parts and twice as long in the south.

“In Transnistria, the year began with a serious test: an energy crisis caused by an unfavorable combination of external factors,” Krasnoselsky said, according to a translation.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean saying On Friday he said the country is facing a security crisis following the disruption of the flow of Russian gas through Ukraine and accused the Kremlin of “gas blackmail”.

In a statement on the government website, Recean warned of a looming humanitarian crisis for the 350,000 residents of the Transnistria region.

“By jeopardizing the future of the protectorate it has supported for three decades in an effort to destabilize Moldova, Russia is revealing the inevitable outcome for all its allies: betrayal and isolation,” Recean said.

“We treat this as a security crisis aimed at allowing the return of pro-Russian forces to power in Moldova and arming our territory against Ukraine, with whom we share a 1,200 kilometer border,” he added.

Moldova’s prime minister said the country had managed to secure its electricity supply in the first days of 2025, with half of the country’s energy consumption covered by domestic sources and the other half coming from imports.

A spokesperson for the Russian embassy in London was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

The country’s parliament. saying late last year that the interruption of Russian gas supplies to its region of Transnistria could generate “a humanitarian crisis” as well as “risks for the functioning and stability” of Moldova’s energy sector.

Moldova, located between Russia and Ukraine, is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in the coming months. The vote is set to shape the country’s future relationship with the EU.

At the beginning of November last year, European leaders congratulated pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu on her victory in the second round of the country’s presidential election. The vote was seen as another step on the former Soviet republic’s path toward integration into the bloc.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.