He is reacting to the suspension of Russian gas supplies due to financial disputes between Moscow and Chisinau.
The government in the separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria on Friday ordered a controlled interruption of electricity supplies. TASR informs according to the report of the AFP agency.
“There will be a controlled interruption of electricity supplies in Transnistria today, January 3. The reason is that the inhabitants of the republic currently consume more electricity than the energy system produces,” said the Transnistria Ministry of Economy on the Telegram social network. The outage will also affect part of the Tiraspol metropolis.
The pro-Russian president of the separatist region, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said the shutdowns were necessary because the pressure on the power grid was too high. “The load will continue to grow. Controlled power outages cannot be avoided,” he said.
On Wednesday, Russia cut off gas supplies due to a financial dispute with the Moldovan government in Chisinau. On the same day, Ukraine terminated the gas transit agreement with Russia’s Gazprom. According to Gazprom, Moldova owes almost 709 million dollars for past gas supplies. Referring to British and Norwegian auditing firms, Moldova only recognizes a debt of $8.6 million.
The rest of Moldova secured electricity supplies from neighboring Romania. Russian natural gas had not arrived there before, but the gas power plant in Transnistria was relied upon to produce electricity.
Approximately 450,000 people live in the predominantly Russian-speaking Transnistria, and Russia has approximately 1,500 soldiers there. Krasnoselskij announced on Thursday that more than 70,000 households do not have gas to provide hot water and heating. Most industrial enterprises do not work either.
