Gazprom to suspend gas supplies to Moldova from Jan 1

MOSCOW: Russia’s Gazprom announced Saturday that it will halt gas supplies to Moldova from January 1 over a debt dispute during a state of emergency over energy security in the tiny country.

Moldova’s prime minister denounced what he called “oppressive tactics”.

The move comes as several Eastern European countries brace for an end to Russian gas supplies, as Kyiv will block the flow of Russian gas via its territory in several days. Moldova earlier this month introduced a 60-day state of emergency before the expected cut.

“Gazprom will restrict natural gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova to zero cubic metres per day from 0500 GMT on January 1, 2025,” the company said in a statement. Gazprom said the move was “in connection with the refusal by the Moldovan side to regulate debts” and that it “reserved the right” for further action, including terminating the supply contract.

Moldovan prime minister Dorin Recean said on Facebook that the “alleged debt has been invalidated by an international audit”, accusing Russia of using “energy as a political weapon”.

He said Moldova would continue to diversify its sources of energy supply and will “carefully analyze legal options, including the resort to international arbitration to protect our national interest and to seek compensation”.

Russia supplies Moldova with gas piped to the breakaway region of Transnistria, backed by Russia. The country gets most of its electricity from a power station based in Transnistria that uses Russian gas.In a related development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico of opening a “second energy front” against Ukraine on the orders of Russia, as a gas transit dispute between the countries deepened.

Fico, who visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this week, said on Friday Slovakia would consider reciprocal measures against Ukraine such as halting back-up electricity supplies if Kyiv stops the gas transit from Jan. 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,” Zelenskiy wrote on the X social media platform.

Slovakia wants to maintain Russian gas supplies via Ukraine, saying alternative routes would hike costs and hit its own transit operations, causing it to lose 500 million euros in fees.

Ukraine has been forced to import electricity from several of its neighbours since Russia began targeting its power grid in late 2022, damaging or destroying much of the country’s non-nuclear generation capacity.

Zelenskiy said Slovakia currently accounted for 19% of Ukraine’s power imports, and that Ukraine was working with its European Union neighbours to bolster the supply.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Fico was siding with Putin by making “senseless threats” to cut off Ukraine’s power imports.