Reacting to an expected cut-off in Russian gas supply, Moldova’s Parliament Friday voted to enter a 60-day state of emergency. A natural gas deal to transmit gas to Moldova from Russia via Ukraine expires Dec. 31. Moldovan President Maia Sandu pictured at the Presidential Palace in Chisinau, Moldova March 6, 2022. File Photo by Moldovan President Office/ UPI | License Photo
Reacting to an expected cut-off in Russian gas supply, Moldova’s Parliament Friday voted to enter a 60-day state of emergency.
Fifty-six out of 101 members of parliament voted to implement the state of emergency, allowing the government to take emergency steps attempting to prevent or mitigate the threat as a natural gas deal to transmit gas to Moldova from Russia via Ukraine expires Dec. 31. Advertisement
Most of Moldova uses European gas.
The Russian gas currently flowing through Ukraine is not used by most of Moldova, only the Russian-occupied Transnistria region — a strip of territory near Ukraine’s border.
However, a power plant in Transnistria supplies electricity to all of Moldova, so a gas shutoff poses a threat to the entire country.
Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz have a gas transit deal for Russian gas to flow through Ukraine and on to Moldova that ends Dec. 31.
Ukraine has said it won’t extend the deal.
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said the gas could continue flowing to Moldova from Russia through Turkey and Romania, but so far Russia’s state-run Gazprom has ruled that out , citing an alleged unpaid debt Moldova owes Russia for past gas purchases. Advertisement
Moldova is a land-locked country neighboring Ukraine in the European Balkans.
Moldova’s parliament said in a press release a humanitarian crisis could be triggered if the gas slow is shut off.
Before 2022 Moldova bought all its gas from Russia.
Moldova has said Russia is using hybrid tactics like espionage, a coup plot and election interference to destabilize Moldova’s government, so the nation switched most of the country to European gas.
According to Dutch bank ING Head of Commodities Strategy Warren Patterson, when the deal to flow Russian gas through Ukraine ends, “the EU will lose around 15bcm of gas supply annually, which is equivalent to around 5% of total imports.”
He added that unless some arrangement is made to continue the Russian gas flow, “the EU will have to rely further on LNG imports to make up for this shortfall.”
