(Reuters) -Moldova’s Moscow-backed separatist region of Transdniestria extended its state of emergency on Friday for another month as it grapples with an energy crisis after losing access to Russian gas supplies that had propped up its economy for decades.
Russia’s Gazprom suspended gas exports to Transdniestria on Jan. 1, citing unpaid Moldovan debts of $709 million. Moldova disputes that debt and says Moscow is engineering a crisis to undermine its pro-Western government.
Russia used to supply gas to Transdniestria via Ukraine and Moscow blames the crisis on Kyiv, which refused to roll over a gas transit deal that expired on Dec. 31 due to Russia’s invasion. Moldova, which supports Ukraine, says Moscow could use an alternative route to continue supplies.
Residents and businesses in Transdniestria, which broke away from Moldova in the final days of Soviet rule and has long relied exclusively on Russian gas, have since faced gas cutoffs, rolling power cuts and problems with water supplies.
The separatist authorities said on the Telegram app that residents would have five hours of power cuts on Friday and that the state of emergency would be in place until at least Feb. 8.
The authorities’ official Telegram news channel said daily power cuts would remain at five hours during the weekend. It also said several factories, including a machine-building plant in the region’s main town, Tiraspol, would be permitted to operate at night, when strain on the power grid is lower.
Moldova’s pro-European government accuses Russia of artificially creating the energy crisis to destabilise the country ahead of this summer’s parliamentary election.
The central government’s spokesperson, Daniel Voda, said authorities had proposed several solutions to help Transdniestria “for the sake of a peaceful, stable and prosperous future together.”
“There are solutions, but … Transdniestrian authorities refuse all dialogue and spread false information, blaming everyone except those who created this crisis and shut off the tap,” Voda said. “The energy blackmail organised by Russia in Transdniestria must stop.”
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said Gazprom could supply gas to Transdniestria via an alternative route, TurkStream.
Transdniestria blames Moldova and Ukraine for the energy crisis into which it has been plunged and denies that Moldova has made any proposal to help ease the crisis.
An official in Transdniestria, quoted by the official news channel, said on Wednesday that the breakaway region’s gas storage volumes would be enough for the next 24 days.
Transdniestria fought a brief war against Moldovan government forces in 1992 and still hosts 1,500 Russian soldiers on the tiny territory that neighbours Ukraine.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Ron PopeskiEditing by Tom Balmforth and Gareth Jones)
