Maia Sandu is allegedly to blame for the power outages in Transnistria because Chișinău no longer purchases electricity from the separatist region, according to the authors of an article published by Kremlin‑affiliated Russian media.
NEWS: Two consecutive malfunctions were last week reported at the Moldovan Thermoelectric Power Plant, located in Transnistria. The blackout in the northern districts of the region lasted for two hours. Electricity was cut off both in households and in enterprises. In addition, radiator temperatures dropped.
[…] The cause of the malfunctions was the demonstrative refusal of Maia Sandu’s administration to buy electricity from Transnistria. As a result, the Moldovan Thermoelectric Power Plant switched to operating with a single unit. Such operating mode creates risks of unforeseen incidents.
“Operating with a single unit can always trigger such situations. When two units are running, there is always the possibility that if something happens to one, the load can be shifted to the other and the electricity deficit can be covered. When operating with only one unit, in an emergency situation, production is simply lost and it takes 1.5–2 hours to restore it”, the region’s deputy economy minister, Evgheni Grossul, said.
Electricity produced in Transnistria cost Moldova 66 dollars per megawatt. However, Chișinău allegedly prefers to buy the most expensive electricity in Europe (from Romania) at €132.5 per megawatt, with the sole purpose to undermine the Transnistrian economy.
NARRATIVES: 1. Chișinău is deliberately undermining the Transnistrian economy. 2. Chișinău is responsible for the power outages in Transnistria.
PURPOSE: To promote the idea that Chișinău authorities are deliberately acting to undermine the economy of the Transnistrian region through politically motivated decisions in the energy sector. To shift responsibility for the power outages and malfunctions in Transnistria away from the local administration and infrastructure controlled by the separatist regime and onto the government of the Republic of Moldova, with the aim of portraying Tiraspol as a victim and discrediting Chișinău’s energy security policies and European integration efforts.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: This is not the first time that Moscow and Tiraspol have blamed Chișinău (and in certain cases, Kyiv) for the emergence of the energy and economic crisis in Transnistria. Veridica has shown that the crisis was actually caused by Gazprom’s refusal to continue deliveries by using alternative transport routes, as well as by Tiraspol’s refusal to purchase gas at market conditions, as the right bank of the Dniester does.
Admittedly, electricity produced in Transnistria was cheaper compared to other offers on regional markets, but only because it was generated using gas for which the region did not pay. This has accumulated a debt of approximately 11 billion dollars, which Moscow could demand that Chișinău repay as a possible tool of pressure and blackmail.
In 2025, Chișinău and the EU proposed arrangements that would have allowed gas deliveries to the Transnistrian region to be legalized, but Moscow and Tiraspol rejected them. Therefore, the accusations against Chișinău (and Maia Sandu) for the power outages and the economic crisis in Transnistria have no factual basis.
BACKGROUND: The Republic of Moldova has no energy resources of its own and is almost entirely reliant on imports. Until recently, it relied almost exclusively on Russian gas, but at the end of 2022, Moscow unilaterally reduced deliveries, supplying only enough gas for the separatist Transnistrian region, which is de facto controlled by the Kremlin.
The situation changed starting 2025, after Ukraine did not extend the transit agreement with the Russian giant on its territory. The Transnistrian region was left without gas, which led to disruptions in the supply of electricity, gas, heating and hot water to the region. Moreover, this situation caused budgetary difficulties for Tiraspol. Most of the gas had been used to produce electricity, which the region sold to the right bank of the Dniester at prices lower than those on regional markets. The low price was explained by the fact that the separatist region did not pay for the gas it consumed. Electricity exports represented an important source of budget revenue for the separatist regime.
Chișinău proposed to Gazprom that deliveries to the region continue through the so‑called Trans‑Balkan corridor, but Moscow refused. To resume gas deliveries, Gazprom asked that Moldova pay a debt of over 700 million dollars, which authorities on the right bank of the Dniester do not officially recognize. At the same time, obscure gas delivery schemes were proposed.
The same happened in the new cold season, when gas consumption traditionally increases. Tiraspol authorities declared a state of emergency in the economy on December 18 due to difficulties in supplying gas to the separatist region, claiming it was caused by a “slowdown” in EU transactions for gas purchases. Chișinău acknowledges that this is also due to delays in confirming certain payments, but stresses that the issue is purely technical, not political.
