SCOW/CHISINAU, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM), opens new tab said on Saturday it would suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on Jan. 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova, which is bracing for severe power cuts.
It said the company reserved the right to take any action, including terminating the supply contract with Moldova.
Russia supplies Moldova with about 2 billion cubic metres of gas per year, which is piped via Ukraine to the breakaway region of Transdniestria where it is used to generate cheap power that is sold to government-controlled parts of Moldova.
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean condemned the Russian decision, which is a precursor to a total shutdown of Russian gas exports via Ukraine and to Europe, where it flows further to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Italy, once a current transit deal with Ukraine expires on Dec. 31.
Moldova will be hit the hardest by the shutdown.
“This decision confirms once again the intention of the Kremlin to leave the inhabitants of the Transdniestrian region without light and heat in the middle of the winter,” Recean wrote on Facebook, accusing Russia of using energy as a political weapon.