Transnistria, the pro-Russian breakaway region of Moldova, announced today that it is implementing new power cuts for consumers due to the cessation of Russian gas supplies, which are vital to its 500,000 residents.

This small enclave had already suspended the operation of its industries on Thursday due to the lack of electricity. Then, yesterday, it began implementing the first power outages for consumers.

These new holidays took place today “for three hours”, between 14.00 and 17.00 local time (and Greek time), the separatist government announced on Telegram.

“One-hour outages are not enough to guarantee the safety of the electrical supply system“, separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselsky pointed out in a press release.

“The experts insist that, from tomorrow, (the length of) holidays will rise to four hours“, he also clarified.

The Russian giant Gazprom previously supplied Transnistria with gas through the local provider Tiraspoltransgaz, without this company paying for these supplies. As Transnistria has not been recognized by the international community, this entity has been sending payment requests to Chisinau, gradually increasing Moldova’s debt to Gazprom.

The dispute over the amount of debt owed to Gazprom—which Moscow says is more than $700 million, but is estimated by Chisinau to be only about $9 million—has led the Russian giant to shut off the January 1st.

The rest of Moldova is currently unaffected by the blackouts, thanks in particular to help from neighboring Romania and after it took drastic measures to reduce consumption in the country.

Apart from Transnistria, Moldova no longer receives Russian gas since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in 2022, but much of its electricity needs depend on the Cuciurgan station, located in Transnistria.

In addition, Russia stopped gas supplies to the European Union via Ukraine from January 1, after a transit contract signed by the two sides at the end of 2019 expired and Kiev refused to renew.