The Russian state Gazprom announced this Saturday that will suspend the gas supply to Moldavia starting January 1, citing alleged debt by the European Union candidate country, which has implemented emergency measures as it prepares for power outages.
Gazprom indicated in a statement that reserves the right to take further actionincluding the termination of its contract with Moldovagaz, Moldova’s main gas operator, in which the Russian company owns a majority stake.
The gas cutoff will halt supplies to the Kuciurgan power plant, the country’s largest, which is located in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria.
For its part, Moldova reacted by accusing Moscow of convert energy supplies into a weapon.
Gazprom supplies gas to the Kuciurgan plant, which also generates the electricity that powers a significant part of Moldova. The plant was privatized in 2004 by the Transnistrian authorities and later sold to a Russian state company. Moldova, which has a pro-Western government and has denounced Russian interference, does not recognize privatization.
In early December, the Moldovan Parliament voted to impose a state of emergency in the energy sector amid fears that Russia could leave Moldova without enough energy this winter.
A special commission was also established to manage the “imminent risks” if Moscow does not supply gas to the Kuciurgan plant and on Friday approved a series of measures aimed at saving energy.
Gazprom has said Moldova owes about $709 million for past gas supplies, a figure that the government in the capital Chisinau rejects. The Russian gas company began to claim the debt in 2021, months after the defeat of the pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon against the pro-European Maia Sandu in the presidential elections.
The first Moldovan minister, Dorin Receancondemned the measure this Saturday, saying that his government does not recognize the debt cited by Gazprom, which has been “invalidated by an international audit.”
Moldova claims, citing findings by British and Norwegian auditing firms, that its debt amounts to about $8.6 million, a small fraction of what Gazprom claims.
Recean added that Chisinau has promoted the diversification of its natural gas supplies to reduce dependence on the Kuciurgan plant, and said the government “will carefully analyze legal options, including resort to international arbitration to protect the national interests of Moldova.
“Our country is prepared to handle any situation that arises after the Kremlin’s decision,” he said.
Moldova announced on Friday that it will implement a series of measures starting January 1 to reduce energy consumption. These include limit lighting in public and commercial buildings by at least 30%, and require energy-intensive businesses to operate during off-peak hours.
In late 2022, Moldova suffered major power outages following Russian attacks on neighboring Ukraine, which is interconnected with the Kuciurgan plant.
Transnistria, which broke away after a brief war in 1992 and is not recognized by most countries, also declared its own state of emergency earlier this month in case the region does not receive gas supplies.
When Russia completely invaded Ukraine in 2022, Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.5 million people, was completely dependent on Moscow for natural gas.but since then it has promoted the diversification and expansion of its energy sources.
In October, Moldova’s pro-Western president Maia Sandu won a second term in office, and a referendum voted to secure the country’s path to the EU, in two votes overshadowed by continued claims of Russian interference to derail the change. towards the west of the country in recent years. Russia denies it is interfering in Moldova.
Russia cut off most natural gas supplies to Europe in 2022, citing disputes over payment in rubles, a move that European leaders described as energy blackmail for their support for kyiv against the Russian invasion.
(With information from Associated Press and EP)
