Moldovans brace for 'no heating, no light' when Russia halts gas supplies

 

FILE – A woman leaves at the end of a religious service inside the Saint John the Baptist cathedral in Comrat, the capital of Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova, Nov. 2, 2024.

On a frigid morning in Moldova\’s capital, 39-year-old postal worker Petru Murzin braces for a difficult winter as he fears a looming energy shortage could leave many Moldovans with "no heating, no light."

His concerns aren\’t unfounded.

On January 1, Russia\’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom is set to halt gas supplies to the European Union candidate country over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies, a figure fiercely disputed by Moldova\’s pro-Western government, that has accused Moscow of weaponizing energy as a political tool to destabilize the country.

FILE – Men stand next to pipelines of the national natural gas distribution network outside Ungheni, Moldova, March 4, 2015.

After Gazprom announced it would halt gas flows, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean accused Moscow of using energy "as a political weapon" and said his government does not recognize the debt cited by the Russian energy giant, which he said has been "invalidated by an international audit."

"This decision confirms once again the intention of the Kremlin to leave the inhabitants of the Transnistrian region without light and heat in the middle of the winter," he said.

For 30-year-old Chisinau resident Iuliana, who did not want to give her surname, power outages would prevent her from doing her online job, which could also be untenable if the heating goes off in the middle of winter in the country of about 2.5 million people.

"We\’re afraid, but we\’re happy that there\’s no snow and the temperatures aren\’t that low and we can turn on the heating maybe only in the evening if we work at an office," she said. "But I work from home and I\’ll be directly affected."

She also noted that Moldova has faced multiple crises in recent years, "But regarding power and gas, it\’s the first time we face this," she said.

\’Energy blackmail\’

Moldovan President Maia Sandu criticized Russia on Monday for Gazprom\’s decision and said that the country has gas supplies "for the heating season" and measures will be taken "to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply," adding that plans are also in place to provide humanitarian aid to residents in Transnistria.

"The Kremlin is again using energy blackmail in an attempt to destabilize the situation, to influence the 2025 parliamentary elections and to undermine our European journey," she said. "It is important to remain united, show solidarity, and trust in Moldova and its people. And to use energy rationally."

Moldova has repeatedly claimed Russia is conducting a vast "hybrid war" against the country by meddling in elections, funding anti-government protests, and running vast disinformation campaigns to try to topple the government and derail the country\’s EU aspirations.

The Kuciurgan plant was privatized in 2004 by Transnistrian officials and later sold to a Russian state-owned company, but Chisinau doesn\’t recognize the privatization. On Monday, Recean asked the justice minister to review nationalization legislation, to potentially recover "strategic assets that were forcefully taken over."

Citing findings by British and Norwegian audit firms, Moldova claims its debt stands close to $8.6 million, a fraction of that claimed by the Russian energy giant. Gazprom said in a statement Saturday that it reserved the right to take further action, including terminating its contract with Moldovagaz, Moldova\’s main gas operator, in which the Russian company owns a majority stake.

In late 2022, months after Russia fully invaded neighboring Ukraine, Moldova suffered major power outages following Russian strikes on Ukraine, which is interconnected to the Kuciurgan plant.

When the war next door started, Moldova was entirely dependent on Moscow for natural gas but has since pushed to diversify and expand its energy sources, and now relies on obtaining gas from other European markets.

Murzin, the postal worker, is expecting to see large inflows of people from Transnistria crossing the border once the shortage hits.

"I think cars will line up for several kilometers at the border," he said. "Many people will come here, hoping for warmth."

 

By:VOA