PMR head signs decree on state of emergency due to the situation in the energy sector

President of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR) Vadym Krasnoselsky on Monday, 9 December, signed a decree on the introduction of a state of economic emergency in Transnistria due to the risk of stopping gas transit through Ukraine. The document was published on the website of the press service of the head of the DMR.

"To introduce on the entire territory of the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic a special legal regime - a state of economic emergency - for a period of 30 (thirty) days," the decree says.

The document instructs the president to take a number of measures, in particular, to rationalize the use of natural gas and other resources, to establish a special procedure for the purchase of gas and other fuel, to prohibit organizations from exporting it, to adopt a special procedure for the sale, purchase and distribution of products and necessities.

The decree explains that all these measures are necessary to prevent a critical decline in production, violations in the monetary and financial spheres that could destabilize the economy, as well as other problems that could be caused by the lack of natural gas.

The document comes into force six hours after its publication and has been sent to the TMR Supreme Council for approval.

Earlier, on December 6, Krasnoselsky announced the plan to introduce such a state of emergency at a meeting with members of the DMR Security Council, pointing out that negative trends in the energy sector have been present for years. Measures to prevent major accidents and options for alternative heat supply were discussed.

Before that, on November 26, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebryan said that stopping Russian gas supplies to Transnistria due to the possible cessation of transit of this fuel through Ukraine would turn into a humanitarian catastrophe. Serebryan said that such events should be avoided by any state.

Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov on November 22 indicated that the DMR may face difficulties in the energy sector from January 1 if Gazprom stops supplying gas. The minister pointed out that the region needs help from foreign partners, but it is pointless to expect it from the USA or the European Union (EU) because they will not finance the DMR.