CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) – On a cold morning in Moldova’s capital, postal worker Petru Murzin, 39, is bracing for a harsh winter as he fears the coming power shortage could leave many Moldovans “without heat, without light.”
His concern is unfounded.
On Jan. 1, Russia’s state-owned energy giant, Gazprom, will cut off gas supplies to the European Union candidate country over a $709 million debt for past utilities, a figure strongly contested by Moldova’s pro-Western government, which it has accused Moscow of. using force as a political tool to destroy the country.
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“I feel that we have entered into a problem that is very difficult to solve … which worries me a lot,” Murzin told the Associated Press in Chisinau. “Increasing prices is one thing, but if there is no gas at all, that is a completely different thing.”
The suspension will stop the flow of gas at the Kuciurgan power plant, the country’s largest, located in the isolated region that supports Russian Transnistria. The gas field produces electricity that powers a significant part of Moldova efficiently.
“There will be no heating, no light,” added Murzin. “We are entering a very difficult year.”
Transnistria, which broke away after a brief war in 1992 and is not recognized by many countries, also declared a state of emergency earlier this month, fearing that the region will lose gas. Most of Transnistria’s 470,000 people speak Russian as their first language and about 200,000 are Russian citizens.
On December 13, the parliament of Moldova voted to suspend the state of emergency in the energy sector, as the crisis threatened to leave the former Soviet republic without sufficient energy this winter, which caused fears that it could cause a humanitarian crisis in Transnistria, where. the impact of a gas outage can be felt immediately.
Many observers have predicted that the coming power shortage could force Transnistria residents to go to Moldova in search of basic services to get them through the winter, a period when temperatures across the country regularly fall below freezing degrees.
Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan professor of international relations at Oakland University, says Moscow is likely trying to use “the potential humanitarian crisis in Transnistria to overwhelm Moldova’s existing resources” to increase tensions between Chisinau and the regional capital, Tiraspol. .
“It could raise fears among Moldovan voters about violent conflict, and provide fodder for pro-Russian groups to accuse Chisinau of raising electricity and gas prices, which will be a major campaign issue” before the country’s Parliament. he said the 2025 election.
The unprecedented situation prompted Chisinau last week to implement a series of energy-saving measures starting Jan. 1, including reducing lighting in public and commercial buildings by at least 30%, and energy-intensive businesses operating during off-hours.
“We will probably have to conserve energy until we have a solution,” said Nicoleta Neagu, who is from Moldova but works in Germany. “I hope we will look into this and not waste energy on useless things.”
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 did not recognize the debt owed by the Russian energy giant, which he said had been “invalidated by an international audit.”
“This decision also confirms the Kremlin’s intention to leave the residents of the Transnistrian region without light and heat during the winter,” he said.
For 30-year-old Chisinau resident Iuliana, who did not want to give her last name, the blackout will prevent her from doing her online work, which may be unbearable if the heat goes out in the middle of winter in a nearby country. 2.5 million people.
“We are afraid, but we are happy that there is no snow and the temperatures have not dropped so much and we can turn on the heating devices maybe only in the evening when we work in the office,” she said. “But I work from home and will be directly affected.”
He also noted that Moldova has faced many problems in recent years, “But in terms of energy and gas, this is the first time we have to face this,” he said.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu criticized Russia on Monday for Gazprom’s decision, saying the country has “hot season” gas and measures will be taken to “ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity,” adding that there are plans in place to provide humanitarian aid. residents of Transnistria.
“The Kremlin is once again using the power of fraud in an attempt to worsen the situation, to influence the parliamentary elections in 2025 and to undermine our trip to Europe,” he said. “It is important to stay united, show unity, and trust Moldova and its people. And using power in a reasonable way.”
Moldova has been saying that Russia is waging a massive “coordinated war” against the country by meddling in elections, funding anti-government protests, and running massive disinformation campaigns to try to topple the government and undermine the country’s EU ambitions.
The Kuciurgan plant was privatized in 2004 by Transnistrian officials and later sold to a Russian state company, but Chisinau does not recognize the privatization. On Monday, Recean asked the justice minister to review the nationalization law, to return “strategic assets taken by force.”
Citing findings by British and Norwegian auditing firms, Moldova says its debt is closer to $8.6 million, a fraction of what the Russian energy giant claimed. Gazprom said in a statement on Saturday that it reserved the right to take further steps, including terminating its contract with Moldovagaz, Moldova’s largest gas operator, in which the Russian company holds a majority stake.
In late 2022, months after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine, Moldova experienced a major blackout following Russian strikes in Ukraine, linked to the Kuciurgan facility.
When the war with it started, Moldova was completely dependent on Moscow for natural gas but since then it has been forced to diversify and expand its energy sources, and now relies on other European markets for gas.
Murzin, who works at the post office, expects to see more people from Transnistria crossing the border if there is a shortage.
“I think the cars will come a few kilometers to the border,” he said. “Many people will come here, hoping for warmth.”
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Associated Press writer Stephen McGrath contributed from Warwick, England.
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