Moldova spent €15 million on electricity after gas transit was canceled

During the first ten days of January 2025, the Moldovan energy company Energocom spent more than €15 million to purchase electricity for Moldovan residents, the organization's website reported on January 11.

"For the first 10 days of the year, a total of about 137 thousand MW⋅h was purchased at a weighted average price of €110.83 per 1 MW⋅h," the statement reads.

It is also reported that Energocom is in constant dialog with its foreign partners to find the best price offers.

The end of the world: Moldova and Transnistria prepare for the biggest energy crisis

Chisinau and Tiraspol declared a state of emergency

Earlier, on January 2, Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban stressed that the actions of Moldovan authorities were the reason for the increase in the cost of public utilities in the country. He noted that "the municipality will cope", but the financing of road repairs, schools, as well as social projects will suffer. In turn, the leader of the opposition party "Chance" Alexei Lungu said on January 4 that the increase in the electricity tariff in Moldova due to the energy crisis will lead to an increase in inflation by 10%, as well as to higher prices for all goods. According to him, pensioners and budgetary employees will face a bigger problem due to the fact that half of their income will go to pay for utilities.

On January 1, centralized heating was cut off in Transnistria after Gazprom stopped supplying Russian gas through Ukraine. Gas stopped flowing also to Moldova because of the country's unpaid debts. For his part, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean did not recognize the debt and threatened to sue. At the same time, it became known that the Moldavian TPP switched to the use of coal in connection with the cessation of gas supplies from Russia.

The day before, energy expert Sergei Ungureanu told Izvestia that Moldova had a difficult situation in the energy sector, and the purchase of electricity from Europe would hit the country's economy. He noted that Moldova has not agreed to continue gas transit through Ukraine, which means that Transnistria will not receive gas and will not be able to produce enough cheap electricity.

"Gazprom and Moldovagaz signed a five-year contract for gas supplies in the fall of 2021. It stipulated Chisinau's payment of the debt for supplies in the past few years. The entire volume was estimated at $709 million, of which Chisinau officially recognizes only $8.6 million.