Moldovan citizens will vote this year in parliamentary elections. There is a risk that their vote will derail Chisinau's European course. Only time will tell how Europe will react, Vitalie Cojocari writes.

Tens of thousands of people in Transdniestria have been without gas or winter heating since Jan. 1 when Russia's Gazprom suspended gas exports to the region, citing an unpaid Moldovan debt of $709 million that Chisinau does not recognise as valid.

The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas? Free-of-charge Russian gas had been the backbone of Transnistria's economy and ensured the preservation of the breakaway region and its de facto independence from Moldova.

Transdniestria, a breakaway region of Moldova, anticipates resuming Russian gas supplies after intense power shortages. Moldovan prime minister accuses Russia of attempting to install a pro-Moscow government by limiting gas supply,

Moldovagaz is ready to purchase gas for Transnistria at market prices "subject to payment of supplies in Moldovan lei." This was stated by the head of the company Vadim Cheban after the statement of the President of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky that Tiraspoltransgaz cannot purchase energy resources on the foreign market due to the "closure of accounts.

The Moscow-controlled breakaway region of Moldova will receive gas as a "humanitarian gesture" from the Kremlin, while the rest of the country will remain cut off after Russia halted supplies on 1 January,

Moldova's Moscow-backed separatist region of Transdniestria extended its state of emergency on Friday for another month as it grapples with an energy crisis after losing access to Russian gas supplies that had propped up its economy for decades.

The energy crisis in Transnistria is being used as a tool of Russian blackmail against Moldova, claims OSW expert Kamil Całus. "Moscow is exploiting the situation for propaganda purposes and to influence Moldovan voters,

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was ready to provide gas to Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region, but needed logistical support from Moldova to make that happen.

Russia will resume gas supplies to Transnistria in the form of humanitarian aid, the head of the Moscow-controlled breakaway region said on Jan. 15, but those to the rest of Moldova will remain cut off.