The industry in the breakaway Moldovan region shuts down due to lack of Russian gas

An official confirmed on Thursday that the cutoff of Russian gas supply to Moldova's Transdniestria region, which is a breakaway region of Moldova, has forced all industrial companies - except for food producers - to close.

The Russian gas cutoff to Central and Eastern Europe through Ukraine on Wednesday has caused a severe and immediate impact on the mainly Russian-speaking region of 450,000 people that split off from Moldova during the Soviet Union's collapse in the 1990s.

Sergei Obolonik told a local channel that "all industrial enterprises were idle except those involved in food production, which directly ensures food security for Transdniestria".

It is still too early to predict how the situation will evolve... "It is too early to judge how the situation will develop...

Ukraine allowed Russia to continue pumping gas through its territory despite

Nearly three years of war

The transit fees earned by the company could reach $1 billion per year. Kyiv, however, refused to extend a five-year contract that expired Wednesday.

European gas consumers such as

Slovakia and Austria

The cutoff was prepared for by securing alternate supplies. Transdniestria, despite the fact that it has 1,500 Russian soldiers and is closely tied to Moscow, was crippled.

KEEPING WARM

On Wednesday, the local energy company stopped providing heating and hot water for households. They urged families to stay warm by assembling in one room, covering windows and doors with blankets or curtains, and using electric heaters.

Transdniestria leader Vadim Krsnoselsky stated that the region's gas reserves could last 10 days in its northern part and twice as long for its southern parts.

He said that the main power station had switched from coal to gas and should be able supply electricity to residents by January and February.

Transdniestria, which has a population of 2.5 million and wants to be part of the European Union, receives about 2 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia each year. This includes the power plant that also provides energy to the entire country of Moldova.

Moldova has had a history of disputes over gas payments and tense relationships with Russia. The ex-Soviet Republic is trying to reduce its energy consumption by at the very least one third, and imports more than 60% from Romania.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the end of Russian transit gas as "one Moscow's greatest defeats". He also urged the United States supply more gas to Europe.

Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine at full scale, Europe has reduced its dependency on Russian energy. It has increased its imports of other sources such as piped gas from Norway or liquefied (LNG) natural gas from the U.S.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in a statement Thursday that the economic impact of the loss Russian gas on Europe was felt by the U.S.

She said, "The United States, the puppet Kyiv government, and the governments of European countries that sacrificed their citizens' welfare for the sake providing financial support to the American economy, are solely responsible for the cessation in Russian gas supplies." Mark Heinrich edited the article by Anastasiia malenko.

(source: Reuters)