Wednesday’s halt to the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine risks having a disproportionate impact on Moldova. Russian power even seems ready to sacrifice its allies in Transnistria, ultra-dependent on Russian gas, if this can destabilize the pro-European government of President Maia Sandu.
No more heating or hot water in Transnistria. The authorities of this pro-Russian separatist region in Moldova confirmed to CNN on Wednesday January 1 that the end of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine had had drastic and immediate consequences. A major humanitarian crisis is reportedly emerging for the approximately 300,000 people who live there.
“Moldova is, along with Slovakia, one of the main victims of the cessation of Russian gas transit through Ukraine. For the authorities in Chisinau, this is not only economically very important, but also potentially the start of a major political crisis,” says Ryhor Nizhnikau, specialist in Russian-Moldovan relations at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs in Finland.
Transnistria “addicted” to Russian gas
Soaring electricity prices?
Moscow ready to sacrifice pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria
Read more on FRANCE 24
Also read:
Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia candidates for the EU: expand the club to counter Russia?
End of Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine
Russian gas: the end of deliveries via Ukraine worries Europe
Swiss
