Moldova’s breakaway region is expected to experience new power outages on Saturday, according to officials

The local authorities have announced that the power outages will persist on Saturday in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria, which has been deprived of Russian gas supplies as a result of Ukraine’s decision not to renew a contract for Russian gas transit.

The expiration of a transit agreement between the warring countries resulted in the cessation of Russian gas flows through Ukraine to central and eastern Europe on New Year’s Day. Kyiv subsequently declined to engage in any additional business with Moscow.

On Friday evening, Transdniestria officials announced that the initial continuous power outages had been implemented.

The predominantly Russian-speaking region, which separated from Moldova in the 1990s and is situated along the Moldova-Ukraine boundary, had been obtaining Russian gas through Ukraine and utilizing it to generate electricity.

According to the official Telegram news channel of the Transnistrian government, power supplies will be interrupted in numerous districts for a period of three hours, specifically from 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) to 5 p.m.

Vadim Krasnoselsky, the self-proclaimed president of the enclave, had previously declared that power outages were inevitable. He stated that the region’s gas reserves were sufficient to sustain limited utilization for a period of 10 days in the north and twice as long in the south. He did not specify whether there were any intentions to procure supplies subsequent to that.

The disruptions could be prolonged to four hours on Sunday, Krasnoselsky stated on Telegram on Saturday.

Russia denies that it has used gas as a weapon to coerce Moldova and accuses Kyiv of failing to renew the gas transit agreement.

In addition to importing approximately 60% of its gas requirements from Romania, Moldova also generates the remaining amount. However, the Transdniestria power outages are a significant issue for Moldova, as the enclave is home to a power facility that supplies the majority of the power to government-controlled areas of the country at a fixed and low price.

On Friday, Prime Minister Dorin Recean declared that his nation was confronted with a security crisis as a result of Transnistria’s implementation of rolling outages. However, he also stated that the Chisinau government had devised alternative solutions, which included a combination of domestic production and electricity imports from Romania.

According to Moldova, Gazprom (GAZP.MM), a significant Russian gas company, has the potential to supply gas without transiting through Ukraine, but has chosen not to do so. A new tab has been opened. The suspension of exports to Moldova on Jan. 1 was announced by Gazprom on Dec. 28, prior to the cessation of supplies via Ukraine, due to what Russia claims are unresolved Moldovan debts of $709 million.

Moldova disputes this assertion and estimates the sum to be $8.6 million.