Ukraine Ends Russian Gas Transit, Transnistria Loses Free Gas

The Ukraine-Russia gas transit agreement expired on January 1, 2025 and Kyiv declined to renew it, cutting off the pipeline route that had supplied free Russian gas to Transnistria for decades. The Cuciurgan (Moldavskaya GRES) power plant, which generated up to 80% of Moldova's electricity using that gas, lost its subsidised fuel source. Transnistria plunged into an energy emergency with heating and power cuts through the winter, while Chisinau scrambled to secure alternative electricity imports.