following the shutdown of Russian gas, Transnistria introduces power cuts

Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist territory in Moldova, announced the establishment of power cuts on Friday evening for the population due to the cessation of deliveries of Russian gas, vital for its half-million inhabitants. This small territory which has escaped the control of the capital Chisinau since the fall of the USSR had already shut down many industrial companies on Thursday due to the lack of electricity. This time, the residents are concerned. “In Transnistria, today, January 3, there will be power cuts. This is due to the fact that the inhabitants of the republic currently consume more electricity than the energy system produces.explained on Telegram the Ministry of the Economy of this separatist territory.

These cuts will take place at regular intervals from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. GMT), he said. The leader of this territory, Vadim Krasnosselski, estimated on Telegram that “the load (on the network) will continue to increase”. According to him, more than 3,000 homes have already been deprived of light and heating due to incidents caused by the overload of the electricity network. The day before, the authorities were alarmed by a “serious crisis” to the consequences “irreversible” after Russian gas deliveries to Transnistria were stopped on Wednesday, in the context of a financial dispute between Moscow and Chisinau. The Russian giant Gazprom has until now supplied Transnistria with gas via the local supplier Tiraspoltransgaz, without this company paying for these deliveries. As Transnistria was not recognized by the international community, the secessionist entity sent payment requests to Chisinau, increasing Moldova’s debt to Gazprom.

The conflict over the amount of the debt to be settled with Gazprom – estimated at more than 700 million dollars by Moscow but estimated at only around 9 million by Chisinau – pushed the Russian giant to turn off the tap from January 1. The rest of Moldova has so far been spared from the cuts, notably thanks to help from neighboring Romania and after taking drastic measures to reduce consumption in the country. Outside of Transnistria, Moldova has already no longer received Russian gas since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in 2022, but depends for a large part of its electricity needs on the Cuciurgan thermal power plant, located in Transnistria. Russia also stopped its gas deliveries to the European Union via Ukraine, after the expiration of a transit contract signed between the two parties at the end of 2019 and which kyiv refused to renew. This ruling is of great concern to several Eastern European countries, including Slovakia.