It’s almost a month since Moldova has been deprived of Russian gas. Despite the opposition of certain European countries, Ukraine decided not to renew, on 1is January, the contract allowing the transit of Russian gas on its territory to neighboring countries. Since then, the situation has been critical in the country, particularly in Transnistria, a pro-Moscow separatist region which has escaped the control of the authorities since the fall of the USSR… and was largely dependent on Russian gas.
It is in this context that we must understand the proposal on Saturday January 25 from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to deliver to “a low price or even free” coal to power power stations in this region.
From 2022 and the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Moldova turned away from Russian gas for its heating. But before the crisis, it was very dependent on its electricity production: almost 70% came from the Kuchurgan thermal power station, located in Transnistria. Until the end of December, the power station, like the rest of the region, was supplied with free gas by the Russian giant Gazprom. A way for Moscow to support the separatists against Chisinau.
Transnistria at the heart of the gas battle
From now on, Transnistria is particularly the first affected by gas and electricity cuts. The rest of Moldova is spared for the moment thanks to electricity and gas imports from Romania… But the situation remains fragile. Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean accused Moscow of wanting “create instability” in the country, since Russia refused to deliver gas via other possible routes, due to a financial dispute over the amount of debt to be settled by Chisinau.
The Ukrainian president’s proposal aims precisely to compensate for the end of Russian deliveries to the separatist region, where 300,000 people live. “Now it is up to the regime in Tiraspol (editor’s note: capital of Transnistria) to accept this aid and ensure that people have heat and electricity as quickly as possible”declared Maia Sandu, the Moldovan president, after the meeting. The day before, demonstrations had broken out there to push Chisinau to facilitate the delivery of Russian gas and put an end to its energy crisis, according to local media.
Volodymyr Zelensky also raised the possibility that Transnistria would, in turn, supply electricity to Ukraine, whose energy infrastructure has been damaged by intensive Russian bombing. While kyiv has been fighting against Moscow for three years, Chisinau fears an extension of the conflict on its soil, in particular through Russian destabilization of the separatist region.