Moldova to impose nationwide state of emergency

The Moldovan parliament on December 13 voted to impose a 60-day nationwide state of emergency, starting December 16, as Russia is expected to stop supplying gas to Moldova via Ukraine from January 1.

According to Reuters, 56 members of Moldova's 101-seat parliament backed the measure in a vote early on December 13, following a call for approval by Prime Minister Dorin Recean to ensure Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria gets the gas it needs. Mr Recean stressed that the vote was aimed at ending "gas blackmail" from Moscow.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean speaks at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York (USA) on September 27.

The declaration of a state of emergency allows the Moldovan government to react quickly and restrict energy exports, according to Reuters.

Moldova receives Russian natural gas via Ukraine, which has said it will not renew its transit contract with Russian gas giant Gazprom. The contract expires on December 31.

Mr Recean accused Russia of "wanting to leave the people of Transnistria without gas and electricity and hold them hostage". "Moscow is doing this to destabilise the situation in Moldova", he alleged.

Mr Recean stressed that parliament must approve a state of emergency so that "this winter must be the last winter in the history of the country when we can be blackmailed on energy".

The Moldovan government warned in a statement that not supplying gas to Transnistria "would lead to a humanitarian crisis... and would also pose risks to the stability of Moldova's electricity sector".

Moldova receives about 2 billion ^cubic meters of gas per year from Russia. Since 2022, Transnistria and the central government have agreed that all Russian gas received by Moldova will go to Transnistria.

Transnistria is home to a Russian gas-fired power plant that is a cornerstone of the Transnistrian economy and also supplies much of the electricity to areas controlled by the Moldovan government. Transnistria declared its own economic emergency on December 10.

Mr Recean asserted that Moldova receiving natural gas from Russia via Ukraine was an “artificial problem” because Russian gas could be transported via other routes.

Moldova said an alternative route to Transnistria could be to transport Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline to Türkiye and then through Bulgaria and Romania.

However, supplying gas via an alternative route could be problematic because Gazprom in the negotiations linked continued deliveries via such routes to a demand that Moldova pay its debt for previous gas supplies, which Russia estimates at $709 million, according to Reuters.

There is currently no information about the reaction of Russia or Ukraine to Moldova's new move.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/moldova-sap-ap-dat-tinh-trang-khan-cap-toan-quoc-185241213082957722.htm