Residents of Transnistria described their adaptation to life without gas

In Transnistria, from January 7, there will be two four-hour power cuts twice a day. Residents of the region told Izvestia about the adaptation of to life without gas.

According to the Telegram channel of the government of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR), the reason for the revision of the schedule was the imbalance of consumption and production of energy resources. The amount of energy produced is not enough to cover consumption.

"There is no heating, we use air conditioners, those who have them, heaters. Lights are turned off for four hours. From 8:00 to 12:00 (from 7:00 to 11:00 Moscow time). What to do? It's dark, you lie under a blanket. Candles, who has what, flashlights are charged. Some people use generators," said Vladimir, a resident of Tiraspol.

In Transnistria, people are trying to meet more in the city, because in the absence of the Internet it has become necessary to maintain live communication.

"I think that nowadays people are used to everything and it is possible to find any solution to this problem. For example, here's how young people, we have board games that have been gathering dust on the shelves for years, and now because there is no light, we can finally take, start, learn the rules, play, also spend time with parents. It is much more interesting to listen than to sit on our phones," commented Valeria, a resident of a village near Tiraspol.

Local journalist Gabriel Calin reported on Facebook (owned by Meta, a company recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) that Moldovan policemen were guarding the blocked Transnistrian gas pipeline.

"They put up the post as soon as Russia stopped gas supplies through Ukraine, and Moldova did not have gas volumes for Transnistria. And now I have a question: is Transnistria Moldova or not? And does Moldova have the moral right to say that Transnistria is Moldovan land?" - he wrote.

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Earlier, on January 3, the president of the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR), Vadim Krasnoselsky, said that 1,500 multi-storey and 72,000 private houses in Transnistria were left without heat and gas. According to him, two large social facilities have been switched to heating with diesel fuel.

Yuri Moldovsky, deputy head of the administration for social issues in the town of Rybnitsa in Transnistria, told Izvestia that all enterprises continue to operate normally after the gas supplies to the region were cut off. The head of the temporary accommodation center, Tatiana Lukasishina, also said that there are 150 places in the dormitory building for those who need first aid, food or accommodation.

Last December, an economic state of emergency was declared in Transnistria due to the difficult situation in the energy sector.

In November of the same year, Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said that Transnistria could face energy difficulties from January 1 if Russia's Gazprom stops supplying gas. The energy minister said that the country needs help from foreign partners, but that neither Brussels nor Washington would finance the Transnistrian region.

At the same time, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebryan said that a possible cessation of gas supplies to Transnistria by Russia after the stoppage of the Russian gas transit through Ukraine would turn into a humanitarian catastrophe. According to him, any state should avoid such a situation.

On January 1, 2025, Gazprom stopped supplying fuel to Europe through the Ukrainian gas transportation system.

In August 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term of office expired in May 2024) said that Kiev would not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that Moscow was not giving up gas supplies through Ukraine.