A question of debt
Gazprom supplied the region via local supplier Tiraspoltransgaz, without this company paying for these deliveries. But the operation was not completely free for everyone… Far from it. In fact, the Transnistrian government sent its invoices to the Moldovan authorities who, refusing to pay, saw their debt to Gazprom swell month after month.
It is officially this question of big money which pushed Moscow to cut off the tap from January 1, at the same time as the end of Russian gas deliveries to Eastern Europe via Ukraine. It is also via Ukrainian territory that gas from Moscow intended for Moldova passed, and therefore for Transnistria which, in recent days, has refused the aid offered by Moldova and Ukraine. The first proposed the purchase of gas from Europe, the second, the purchase of coal.
For ten days, the separatist authorities, who only envisage a resumption of cooperation with Moscow, have introduced daily power cuts and shut down numerous industries. ““Everyone is counting on Russia’s help by providing gas to avoid horrible humanitarian consequences,” declared Friday January 10 the local Minister of the Interior, Vitali Ignatiev.
The separatist entity’s Supreme Council called on Russia and Moldova to “make concrete efforts” to reopen the gas valves “as soon as possible”, in order to “to avoid a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe.
-“Vladimir Putin’s strategy is to control his borders with the EU”
Objective of the legislative elections
“Taking into account the current level of consumption, Transnistria will have enough gas until the end of January, and coal for electricity production: for about 40 days,” he warned. But “this accumulated residual natural gas […] is used exclusively for heating health and social care establishments, as well as for cooking in residential buildings”further clarified the Supreme Council, warning against a possible “collapse of the economy.
For the Transnistrian media, which addresses an almost exclusively Russian-speaking audience, the fault lies with Moldova, or even Ukraine. The Moldovans, for their part, point to Moscow, which seems to hope to sow trouble in the run-up to the legislative elections scheduled for next fall. If the Kremlin did not manage to impose its presidential candidate last November against the outgoing president Maia Sandu, it seems to have already returned to the campaign and determined to put this crisis on the Moldovan power in the hope of winning during the elections. legislative.
