Breakaway Moldovan region cuts heating and hot water after Russia stops gas flow

CHISINAU: The breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria cut heating and hot water supplies to households on Wednesday (Jan 1) after Russia stopped supplying gas to central and eastern Europe via Ukraine.

The severing of the gas flow was felt immediately in the mainly Russian-speaking territory of about 450 000 people, which split from Moldova in the early 1990s as the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia has about 1500 troops stationed there.

"There is no heating or hot water," an employee of local energy company Tirasteploenergo told Reuters by phone. She said she did not know how long the situation would last.

The gas supply was cut in the early hours of Wednesday following the expiry of a gas transit agreement between warring neighbours Russia and Ukraine.

Transdniestria's leader, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said the situation was "not an easy one, but on the whole, we were prepared".

He said the cutoff was rooted in a dispute over payment of arrears between Moldova and Russian gas giant Gazprom..

"Things will get better. Think about yourself, your family, your loved ones," he added.

The flow of Russian gas through Ukraine stopped when Kyiv refused to extend a transit agreement amid the 34 month-old war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday described the end of gas transit as "one of Moscow's biggest defeats". He said it was now Europe's "joint task" to support Moldova "in this period of energy transformation".

Russia had been pumping about 2 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Transdniestria, including a power plant that provided energy for the whole of Moldova, a country of 2.5 million people that wants to join the European Union. The ex-Soviet state has a long history of gas payment disputes and tense relations with Russia.

CUTTING ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Moldova says it is taking measures to cut its energy consumption by at least a third. It plans to meet 38 percent of its needs by domestic production, including 10 percent from renewable energy, and import the remaining 62 percent from neighbouring Romania.

Government spokesman Daniel Voda said on Wednesday that all Moldovan energy consumers were secure, and that the country's thermal power plants were operating normally. He added that Moldova's gas reserves would suffice for the cold period.

Voda said, without providing details, that the government supported residents of Transdniestria and was "looking for alternative solutions to provide them with heat and energy".

In Transdniestria, the local energy company's website said the cut-off of heating and hot water took effect at 7am local time (1pm, Singapore time), but some facilities such as hospitals were exempt.

It urged residents to dress warmly, gather family members together in a single room, hang blankets or thick curtains over windows and balcony doors, and use electric heaters.

"It is forbidden to use gas or electric stoves to heat the apartment - this can lead to tragedy," the company said.

The temperature in Transdniestria's main city, Tiraspol, was 4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Olga, a 42 year old mother of two who lives in an apartment block in the city, said virtually no heat was coming from the radiators.

"We prepared two rooms for this emergency and installed electric fireplaces there for heating, since they promised not to disconnect us from the electricity," she told Reuters.

"So we will hold on like this, hoping that this whole situation with gas is temporary."

Transdniestria's parliament appealed last month to the Kremlin and the Russian parliament to reach a new agreement with Ukraine to enable gas supplies to continue. Moscow said at the time it would protect its citizens and soldiers in Transdniestria.