'No heating, no light': Moldovans fear looming energy shortage as Russia halts gas supplies
Moldovans are bracing for a difficult winter ahead as a looming energy shortage could leave them without enough energy
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — On a frigid morning in Moldova’s capital, 39-year-old postal worker Petru Murzin braces for a difficult winter as he fears a looming energy shortage could leave many Moldovans with “no heating, no light.”
His concerns aren’t unfounded.
On Jan. 1, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom is set to halt gas supplies to the European Union candidate country over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies, a figure fiercely disputed by Moldova’s pro-Western government, that has accused Moscow of weaponizing energy as a political tool to destabilize the country.
“I feel that we’ve entered a crisis that is quite difficult to resolve … which worries me greatly,” Murzin told The Associated Press in Chisinau. “Price increases are one thing, but when there is no gas at all, that’s something entirely different.”
