CHISINAU, January 9. /TASS/. Russian Charge d’Affaires in Moldova Alexander Andreyev visited the republic’s foreign ministry after being summoned in connection with an earlier statement about the energy crisis in Transnistria, a TASS correspondent reported.
The diplomat chose not to answer questions of reporters, who waited for him outside the Foreign Ministry’s office.
The Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian diplomat in the wake of the Russian embassy's statement regarding the energy crisis in Transnistria, in which it rejected Chisinau’s accusations against Moscow.
Moldovan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tatiana Barac, in turn, said that Russia’s stance, expressed in the document, would affect bilateral relations between Chisinau and Moscow.
Earlier, the Russian embassy said that it was watching the "rapidly deteriorating situation in Transnistria," where Russian gas supply was cut on January 1, with concern. The embassy noted that the crisis in the unrecognized republic "has been artificially created by the collective West and Ukraine." The diplomats pointed out that Moldovan and Ukrainian media "shamelessly seek to shift the responsibility" for the energy crisis on Russia.
Earlier this month, gas supplies to Moldova were halted after the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine and Chisinau's refusal to settle the problem of fuel debt, which Moscow estimates at $709 mln.
Unlike Moldova, Transnistria has no alternative gas source. In order to save energy, the unrecognized republic shut down central heating and hot water supply to households, shut down industrial enterprises and initiated rolling blackouts. The Cuciurgan (Moldovan) power plant, located in Transnistria, has been switched from gas to coal, and its stockpile will last until late January or mid-February.