Moldova declares a state of emergency to deal with potential power shortages

2024-12-13 22:37:53, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Parliament of Moldova voted on Friday in favor of declaring a state of emergency in the energy sector. The decision was taken out of concern that Russia could leave Moldova this winter without sufficient gas supplies. Moldova is a candidate country to become a member of the European Union.

A majority in Moldova's 101-seat parliament voted to approve the state of emergency, which will begin on December 16 and last for 60 days. A special commission will urgently adopt measures to manage the "imminent risks" if Moscow does not supply gas to the Kuciurgan power plant, the country's largest, located in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said his country faces an "extraordinary situation" in which Moscow could use the gas supply to destabilize the country and potentially leave people "in the middle of winter without heat and without electricity." .

Russian firm Gazprom supplies the Kuciurgan plant with gas, which produces electricity that supplies much of Moldova. The factory was privatized in 2004 by Transnistrian officials and later sold to a Russian state-owned company. Moldova does not recognize this privatization.

In late 2022, Moldova suffered major power outages following Russian attacks in neighboring Ukraine, which is connected to the Kuciurgan power plant.

"This should be the last winter in the country's history in which we can still be threatened with energy," said Prime Minister Recean. "It is clear that these crises are deliberately provoked and their purpose is to create panic and chaos."

He added that a cut in gas supply could cause economic and humanitarian crises, but vowed that no one in Moldova would be left "in the cold and in the dark."

Transnistria, which broke away after a brief war in 1992 and is not recognized by most countries, also declared a state of emergency this week in case the region is cut off from gas.

When Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine in 2022, Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.5 million people, was entirely dependent on Moscow for gas, but has since made efforts to increase its energy resources.

Sebastian Burduja, Romania's energy minister, said late Thursday that Romania could help Moldova "if the situation calls for it," saying it would be "an obligation ... in the face of aggressions coming from the east."

In October, Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu won a second term. During a referendum held alongside the elections, Moldovans voted in favor of continued integration into the European bloc. Both votes were characterized by allegations of interference by Russia to prevent the country's westward shift. Russia denies that it is interfering in Moldova./ VOA