Russia will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting January 1. Sandu's administration has stated they are prepared to take legal action.

Starting January 1, 2025, the Russian state monopoly "Gazprom" will halt gas supplies to Moldova due to alleged debts owed by the company "Moldovagaz." This was announced in a statement from "Gazprom."

"JSC 'Moldovagaz' consistently fails to meet its payment obligations under the current contract, which constitutes a significant breach of its terms," the statement from "Gazprom" reads.

As noted in the company's announcement, it reserves the right to take any actions, including terminating the gas supply contract with Moldova.

In October 2021, "Gazprom" and "Moldovagaz" signed a five-year contract, one of the conditions of which was the settlement of Chisinau's debts. According to Russian estimates, the debt, including penalties, amounts to $709 million.

In September 2023, Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean stated that Chisinau recognizes only $8.6 million of the debt and has no intention of paying for debts that do not exist.

Moldova's President Maia Sandu accused "Gazprom" of provoking an energy crisis, stating that it refuses to supply gas through alternative routes.

Chisinau declared its readiness for any situation and is carefully analyzing all options for influencing Russia, including international arbitration.

The cessation of supplies foreshadows a complete halt to Russian gas exports through Ukraine to Europe, where it continues to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Italy. The current transit agreement with Ukraine expires on December 31. The Ukrainian government has already announced that it will not extend the transit contract with "Gazprom."

The gas supply contract between Russia and Moldova was established back in the mid-2000s and has been repeatedly extended since then.

Russia supplies Moldova with about 2 billion cubic meters of gas per year via Ukraine. The gas is delivered to the separatist region of Moldova—Transnistria—which uses it at its power plant to generate cheap electricity sold to the rest of Moldova. Transnistria and the government in Chisinau agreed in 2022 that all Russian gas received by Moldova would be directed to Transnistria, which traditionally does not pay Russia for the fuel.

Without gas supplies, the power plant may cease operations, leading to multi-hour electricity outages throughout Moldova, including in Transnistria.

Due to the threat of gas supply interruptions in Moldova, including Transnistria, a state of emergency has been declared.

Earlier, on December 28, Moldova's Prime Minister Dorin Recean condemned Russia's decision to stop gas supplies to Transnistria, stating that it would leave local residents without electricity and heating.

In his statement on Facebook, Recean accused Russia of using energy as a political weapon and promised that Moldova would explore all legal options, including turning to international arbitration.