Moldova faces energy crisis as Russia announces decision to stop gas deliveries
- 29 December, 09:16
Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom will halt gas deliveries to Moldova from January 1 in a move that is likely to cause sever power cuts in the former Soviet republic that entirely depends on Moscow for natural gas.
“Gazprom will introduce a restriction on natural gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova to zero cubic meters per day from 0500 GMT on January 1, 2025,” the company said in a statement on Saturday.
Gazprom cited Moldova’s failure to “regulate unpaid debt” as a reason behind its decision, adding that it “reserved the right” for further action, including terminating the supply contract.
Responding to Gazprom’s statement, Moldovan prime minister Dorin Recean said in a Facebook post that “alleged debt has been invalidated by an international audit,” accusing Russia of using “energy as a political weapon.” Recean went on saying that Chisinau would continue to diversify its sources of energy supplies, and will “carefully analyze legal options, including the resort to international arbitration to protect our national interest and to seek compensation.”
It should be noted that Moscow supplies about 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to Moldova. However, Russia’s decision to halt gas supplies was expected in Chisinau. On December 13. Moldova’s parliament voted in favour of imposing a state of emergency in energy sector over fears that Russia could weaponise energy flows to destabilize the country in the middle of winter. Moldova’s breakaway pro-Russian Ttansinstria region also announced an emergency situation in early December in case the region does not receive gas supplies from Russia.
Moldova, a nation of 2.5 million people, has been seeking to diversify its energy supplies since Russia’s full-fledge invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The relation between Moscow and Chisinau has been worsening since Moldova’s pro-Western president Maia Sandu was elected to a second term in October this year.
