Ukraine’s halt of Russian gas throws Transnistria into crisis

The separatist region of Moldova Transnistria was thrust 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 predominantly Russian-speaking territory of Transnistria are left to face the remaining winter months without heating or power after Ukraine stopped the flow of Russian gas to several European countries on New Year’s Day.

The long-awaited arrest, that was confirmed by Russian state energy giant Gazprom on Wednesday, marked the end of Moscow’s decades-long dominance of Europe’s energy markets.

Beside Slovakia and Austria, Moldavia was thought to be one of the countries most at risk from the cessation of Russian gas supplies.

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

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 internationally recognized as part of Moldova.

The region has now been forced to close almost all industrial companies, with the exception of food producers, after Wednesday’s cut-off of Russian gas.

“All industrial enterprises are inactive, with the exception of those engaged in food production – that is, which directly ensure food security for Transnistria,” Sergei Obolonik, first deputy prime minister of the region, said Thursday to a local news channel, according to Thursday. Reuters.

“It is too early to judge how the situation will develop … The problem is so vast that if it is not solved for a long time, we will already have irreversible changes – that is, companies will lose their ability to start.”

Until Wednesday, Russian gas had reached Moldova via its neighbor Ukraine. However, neither Moscow nor Kiev were willing to make a new gas transit agreement ongoing war.

Russia, which has transported gas to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines since 1991, said European Union countries would suffer the most from the change in supply. Moscow can also send gas via the TurkStream pipeline, which connects Russia with Hungary, Serbia and Turkey.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, he said worked with the EU member states most affected by the end of the gas transit agreement to ensure that the entire 27-nation bloc was prepared for such a scenario.

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

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

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

Krasnoselsky said on Wednesday that Transnistria’s main power plant had started using coal after the Russian gas supply was cut off and estimated that the enclave had enough gas reserves to last 10 days of limited use in its northern parts and twice 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 the translation.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean he said Friday that the country faces a security crisis after the stoppage of Russian gas flows via Ukraine and accused the Kremlin of “gas capture”.

In a statement on the government’s website, Recean warned of an impending humanitarian crisis for the 350,000 residents of the Transnistrian region.

“By bringing up the future of the protectorate it has supported for three decades in an effort to destabilize Moldova, Russia reveals 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 the arms of our territory against Ukraine, with which we share a 1,200 km border” , he added.

The Moldovan prime minister said that the country was able 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 by imports .

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

The country’s parliament he said late last year that the stoppage of Russian gas to its Transnistrian region could generate “a humanitarian crisis” and also “risks for the operation and stability” of Moldova’s energy sector.

Sandwiched between Russia and Ukraine, Moldova is expected 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 The pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu won a second round of voting in the country’s presidential election. The vote was seen as another step in the former Soviet republic’s path to integration with the bloc.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.