An ultimatum that expires at the end of time was addressed by the Russian company, announcing today that it will stop exports from January 1, due to the country’s unpaid debts.
The interruption of the flow is specifically to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Italy, when the transit agreement with Kiev expires on December 31.
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean condemned Russia’s decision to cut gas supplies to Transnistria and accused Moscow of using energy as a political weapon. In his post on Facebook, the Moldovan Prime Minister states that Moldova will consider all legal means, including international arbitration.
Russia supplies Moldova with 2 billion cubic meters per year through Ukraine. Russian natural gas is piped to Transnistria, which meets its energy needs and then sells it to the rest of Moldova.
Russia, which does not have good relations with Moldova’s pro-Western government, has said the country must repay its debt for past supplies, which Moscow says is $709 million. Moldova says its debt is $8.6 million.
Transnistria and the Chisinau government agreed in 2022 that the entire volume of Russian natural gas to Moldova would flow to Transnistria, which traditionally does not pay for this energy.
Without natural gas supplies, the power plant will shut down and Moldova and Transnistria will face power outages similar to those experienced by Ukraine.
Moldova and Transnistria declared a state of emergency. Chisinau announced yesterday that it will cut energy exports and introduce measures to cut consumption by at least a third from January 1.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu accuses Gazprom of causing an energy crisis by refusing to export gas via an alternative route.
Threats and warnings between Kyiv and Bratislava
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is accusing Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico of opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine at the behest of Russia, as the dispute over gas transit between the two countries escalates.
Ukraine exports Russian natural gas that passes through its territory to several European countries, including Slovakia, but is expected to cut off the flow when the transit agreement it signed with Russia expires on December 31.
Fico, who visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week, said yesterday that Slovakia would consider retaliating with measures such as cutting off electricity exports to Ukraine if Kiev cut off gas transit on January 1. .
It appears that Putin gave Fico the order to open the second energy front against Ukraine at the expense of the Slovak people’s interests. Fico’s threats to cut off Ukraine’s emergency power supply this winter while Russia attacks our power plants and energy grid can only be…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa)
“It seems that Putin ordered Ficho to open a second energy front against Ukraine at the expense of the interests of the Slovak people,” Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in X.
Slovakia is seeking to keep Russian gas flowing through Ukraine, saying alternative routes raise costs and hurt its own transit businesses, causing it to lose 500 million euros in fees.
Ukraine has said it will not sign a new gas transit agreement with Moscow due to a Russian invasion in 2022.
Ukraine has been forced to import electricity from many neighboring countries since Russia systematically attacked its energy infrastructure, destroying the country’s energy potential.
The Ukrainian president said that Kiev imports 19% of its energy from Slovakia and that it is working with the European Union to increase supplies.
Today, I reviewed the details of electricity imports from the EU to Ukraine via Slovakia—accounting for about 19% of the total volume. Fico won’t cut off our imports. We are working with other neighbors in the EU.
I have instructed our officials to work together with the…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa)
“Slovakia is part of the single European energy market and Fico must respect common European rules,” wrote Volodymyr Zelenskiy, explaining that cutting energy exports to Ukraine would mean a loss of $200 million a year for Slovakia.
