Moldovan PM warns of security crisis after cut-off of Russian gas

 Moldova faces a security crisis after its breakaway enclave of Transdniestria was cut off from supplies of Russian gas, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Friday.

Flows of Russian gas via Ukraine to central and eastern Europe were halted on New Year's Day after a transit agreement between the warring countries expired, and Kyiv rejected doing further business with Moscow.

Recean said Moldova would cover its own energy needs with domestic production and imports but noted the separatist Transdniestria region had suffered a painful hit despite its ties with Moscow. Residents there have lost hot water and central heating, and all factories except food producers have been forced to stop production.

"By jeopardising the future of the protectorate it has backed for three decades in an effort to destabilise Moldova, Russia is revealing the inevitable outcome for all its allies – betrayal and isolation,” Recean said in a statement.

"We treat this as a security crisis aimed at enabling the return of pro-Russian forces to power in Moldova and weaponising our territory against Ukraine, with whom we share a 1,200 km border."

The self-styled president of the pro-Russian enclave, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said rolling power cuts were now inevitable in view of the gas cut-off and increases in demand for electricity.

"The load on the grid will increase," Krasnoselsky wrote on Telegram. "We will not get by without rolling power shutdowns. This is vital to maintain the system."

Krasnoselsky previously said that the region had gas reserves to cover 10 days of limited usage in the north and twice as long in the south.

Russia denies using gas as a weapon to coerce Moldova, and blames Kyiv for refusing to renew the gas transit deal.

DISPUTE OVER ARREARS

Russian gas giant Gazprom had separately said on Dec. 28 that it would suspend exports to Moldova on Jan. 1 because of what Russia says are unpaid Moldovan debts of $709 million. Moldova disputes that, and has put the figure at $8.6 million.

The southeast European nation of about 2.5 million people has been in the spotlight since Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine at a time of mounting tensions between Moscow and the West.

Its pro-European President Maia Sandu won a second term in an election last year and has pledged to accelerate reform and consolidate democratisation.

Moldova plans to hold a parliamentary election this summer.

The mainly Russian-speaking territory of Transdniestria, which split from Moldova in the 1990s, received Russian gas via Ukraine.

In turn, Moldova used to receive the bulk of its electricity from Transdniestria. But, with Kyiv making clear it would stop gas transit from Russia, the Chisinau government prepared alternative arrangements, with a mixture of domestic production and electricity imports from Romania, Recean said.

He said the Moldovan government remained committed to helping the enclave.

"Alternative energy solutions, such as biomass systems, generators, humanitarian aid, and essential medical supplies, are ready for delivery should the breakaway leadership accept the support," the government said in a statement.

The head of Moldova's national gas company Moldovagaz, Vadim Ceban, said Transdniestrian authorities had turned down a offer of help purchasing gas from European countries because the enclave believes Russian gas supplies could still be resumed.

Such purchases would be more costly. Gazprom has long supplied gas to the region without demanding payment.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/moldova-pm-warns-security-crisis-132251579.html