A pro-Russian breakaway region in the former Soviet Republic of Moldova has announced power cuts following the suspension of Russian natural gas supplies.
Transnistrian authorities announced on Saturday that three hours of daily power cuts would be imposed in the region.
According to the news agency, Transnistria had already cut off the supply of hot water and heating to households and all factories, except the food sector, had to stop production.
The authorities took this measure as Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended its gas exports to Europe via Ukraine on Wednesday. The latter had refused to extend its transit contract beyond the end of December, citing the need to reduce Russia’s sources of income due to the ongoing invasion.
Moscow announced that gas supplies had been suspended due to Moldova’s unpaid debts.
Most of the Russian natural gas supplied to Moldova was used to generate electricity in Transnistria.
The Moldovan government claims to have enough energy resources, including gas from Romania, to meet the needs of the rest of the country.
