Every time planned electrical outages are imposed on his village in southern Moldova, 73-year-old retiree Vasili Donici passes the time solving crosswords and puzzles in a room he illuminates using a small gas lamp.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu visited areas hit by rolling power cuts on Thursday and blamed Russian gas giant Gazprom for the energy crisis gripping the country's Transdniestria pro-Russian separatist enclave.

Ukrainian transit gas deal to Europe ended on Jan. 1. For now, the most acute effects are being felt in a region called Transnistria, on the eastern edge of Moldova.

By Iulian Ernst in Bucharest Moldova will certainly not provide free gas to separatist Transnistria region, government spokesperson Daniel Voda said on January 8 at one of the press conferences held daily since Gazprom cut gas supplies on January 1.

Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1, citing alleged unpaid debt by the east European country.

The move was connected with, but not required by, the expiration at the end of 2024 of Russia’s contract with Ukraine for transit of natural gas to Europe. The looming energy crisis is likely to have a strong negative effect on Moldova’s ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) in parliamentary elections due in the second half of 2025.

The head of Moldova’s breakaway region Transnistria has urged residents to burn firewood for heating and warned that blackouts cannot be avoided, after Moscow stopped supplying gas via Ukraine.

Moldova has not received any gas from Russia since Jan. 1, aleaving many homes uncomfortably cold. This hits the pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria the hardest, but it also puts the government in Chișinău under pressure.

More than 51,000 households were left without gas and 1,500 apartment buildings had no winter heat in Moldova's pro-Russian separatist enclave, authorities said on Monday, as Moldova and Russia traded blame for an escalating energy crisis.

"Russian propaganda tries to create a story in which Moldova becomes a ‘problematic actor,’ although the government has proposed clear solutions to avoid the crisis," Moldovan government spokesperson Daniel Voda said on Jan.

Russian-owned gas giant Gazprom announced in December it would halt gas supplies to Moldova over a dispute over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies.

Moldova provides energy aid to Transdniester as the breakaway region faces a gas cutoff amid a dispute between Russia and Ukraine.