The authorities of Transdniestria, a pro-Russian separatist territory in Moldova, said they feared on Monday that this territory would find itself completely without electricity after the end of Russian gas supplies due to a commercial dispute between Moscow and Chisinau.
This small territory of half a million inhabitants which has escaped the control of the central Moldovan authorities since the fall of the USSR has already shut down many industrial companies last week and introduced nighttime blackouts for the population in the face of lack of electricity. Faced with winter temperatures and the shutdown of central heating in buildings, residents were forced to burn wood or use individual electric heaters, further increasing the pressure on the electricity network.
“In Transdniestria, we are currently using a third more than the capacity produced, do you understand? And if this situation continues (…) there could be technological malfunctions and even a fire,” he said on Monday. the leader of this territory, Vadim Krasnosselski, in an address to the population. If this situation continues, “we will find ourselves without electricity,” he warned.
The Russian giant Gazprom has until now supplied Transdniestria with gas via the local supplier Tiraspoltransgaz, without this company paying for these deliveries. As Transdniestria was not recognized by the international community, the secessionist entity sent payment requests to Chisinau, gradually 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, but depends for a large part of its electricity needs on the Cuciurgan thermal power station, located in Transdniestria.
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.
The authorities of Transdniestria, a pro-Russian separatist territory in Moldova, said they feared on Monday that this territory would find itself completely without electricity after the end of Russian gas supplies due to a commercial dispute between Moscow and Chisinau. This small territory of half a million inhabitants which escapes the control of the authorities…
Swiss
