The leader of breakaway Transnistria said Monday his government was ready to buy gas from Moldova, more than two weeks after a halt in Russian supplies plunged his region into crisis.
The tiny self-proclaimed separatist enclave in Moldova that borders Ukraine has been unable to provide heating and hot water to residents since Jan. 1, when Moscow cut off gas to Moldova over a financial dispute.
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“Transnistria is ready to buy natural gas through Moldovagaz,” pro-Russian leader Vadim Krasnoselsky said in a post on Telegram, referring to Moldova’s largest energy supplier.
“We guarantee payment. Please fulfil your promises,” he said in an earlier video.
He said Transnistria sent a letter to Moldovagaz asking to buy gas on Saturday but that his side had not yet heard a response.
Russian energy provider Gazprom halted gas to Moldova on Jan. 1 over what it said were longstanding debts with the government in Chisinau, the same day a major gas transit agreement between Moscow and Kyiv to pipe gas across Ukraine ended.
Moldova blames Moscow for the crisis, saying it is weaponizing gas supplies and blowing the debt issue out of proportion.
The crisis has caused an almost total shutdown in industry in the breakaway state, with residents enduring five-hour long blackouts and burning wood to stay warm.
Internationally recognized as part of Moldova, Transnistria declared independence at the end of the Soviet Union and has been reliant on Moscow’s financial support ever since. Russia has around 1,500 troops stationed there.
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