Moldova will be in a state of emergency for 60 days due to looming gas shortages.
Moldova’s parliament voted to introduce the move on December 13 because the country is likely to run out of Russian gas from January. That is after the country said it would not extend the current transit contract to the breakaway region of Transnistria with Russian energy giant Gazprom, which expires on December 31.
Cutting off gas to Transnistria from December 16 is expected to have repercussions on the stability of Moldova’s energy sector, as the grid is interconnected, making both sides dependent on each other.
During this state of emergency, a special government commission will have powers to issue orders binding state institutions and economic agents to its demands. It will also be able respond quickly to restrict energy exports.
The decree was not supported by the opposition, though.
Before the vote, the Moldovan parliament had been briefed on authority reports about irregularities in the recent presidential election.
The Moldavskaya power plant in Transnistria, which supplies electricity to both sides of the Dniester River that effectively runs between it and Moldova, relies on Russian gas so the situation could lead to a winter electricity shortage.
On December 12, the Transnistrian authorities declared a state of economic emergency, warning of a looming humanitarian crisis.
Domestic consumers and industries in Transnistria are entirely reliant on cheap Russian gas supplies. Vadym Krasnoselsky, the President of the officially unrecognised republic, called on Moldova and Russia to negotiate with Ukraine to secure continued gas transit.
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to leave the population of Transnistria without gas and electricity and hold them hostage, Reuters has reported.
Recean stated that Moscow’s actions were designed to destabilise the situation in Moldova. He urged parliament to approve the state of emergency, emphasising that this winter should mark the last time the country faced such energy “blackmail”.
According to officials in Moldova’s capital Chișinău, Russia could provide Transnistria with its gas via alternative means.
Moldova itself has not purchased Russian gas for two years. Approximately 61 per cent of Moldova’s natural gas imports come from Romanian suppliers.
Due to insufficient reserves, Moldova now has to buy gas from Europe at a much higher price. As a result, the cost for household consumers and businesses had to be increased by 27.5 per cent earlier in December, news agency RBC Ukraine reported.
Moldova has been in a dispute with Gazprom over an old energy contract, with the company demanding $709 million in relation to it — a claim Moldova firmly denies.
