Russian gas freeze

Moldova: Separatist region hit hardest

The border between the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria(Bild: APA/AFP/Daniel MIHAILESCU)

Since the beginning of the year, Russia has stopped supplying natural gas to the Republic of Moldova "until further notice". The reason given for this is outstanding payments by the government in Chisinau. Moscow apparently wants to increase the pressure on the country's pro-European leadership. However, the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria is also affected by the supply freeze - much more so than Moldova.

The leadership in Tiraspol has now extended power cuts to eight hours a day and called on the approximately 350,000 Transnistrians to save electricity. "Go through your house, check whether all appliances are switched off, whether there is still a lamp burning that is not needed," wrote Wadim Krasnoselski, head of the internationally unrecognized republic, on Telegram on Tuesday. 

Military distributes firewood
Without gas, electricity production in Transnistria has shrunk considerably. 1500 high-rise buildings and 72,000 private homes are not heated. Industry is at a standstill and street lighting has been switched off. The leadership called on people to heat with wood and deployed the military to distribute firewood. 

The heartland of Moldova is coping better with Moscow's supply freeze. It can import gas and electricity from its neighbor Romania - albeit at high prices. The government in Chisinau announced that it had also offered to supply Transnistria. Krasnoselski denied that such an offer had been made. According to the EU, it is monitoring the situation in Transnistria together with the Moldovan government. 

Russian embassy warns of violence
The Russian embassy in Chisinau warned Moldovan politicians against using violence to solve the separatist problem in the shadow of the energy crisis. The backbone of the separatist power in Transnistria are around 1500 Russian soldiers who guard old ammunition depots or act as peacekeepers. Most of the soldiers are local residents. The troops are cut off from the motherland Russia.

According to the government in Chisinau, there is only a residual debt of around nine million US dollars. It is suspected that Moscow is using gas as leverage against the pro-European leadership of the small ex-Soviet republic between Ukraine and Romania. Politically, the Republic of Moldova has long been torn between an EU course and a rapprochement with Russia.