A man with a red jacket is smoking in front of his porch in the dark and visibly has the plague in it. For thirty days, the apostate dwarf state of Transnistria was in the cold, without hot water or central heating and with daily power disturbances, because the supply of Russian gas was stopped via neighboring Ukraine. At night it froze outside. Although the man had hung blankets in front of the windows for insulation, the temperature in his apartment dropped to 10 to 12 degrees.
Last weekend the heating started again, thanks to a gift of 30 million euros for gas from the European Union to Moldova, enough for ten days. Slowly when spring the temperature in the man’s house climbed to around 16 degrees. “I hate Europe,” he says. “This is all through Europe. By means of [de Oekraïense revolutie op] Majdan. People are surviving here. Every way out is blocked. “
In the area where the Dnjest River wriggles through the Moldavian hilly landscape, things are soon terribly complicated. While residents on the local television call loudly ‘Hooray’ because they no longer have to wear jackets and hats in their own house, there are also enough angry about the geopolitical arm that she put in the cold.
Moldavian President Maia Sandu and her European allies were the first to blame the Transnistrian authorities. Even after the gift, De Facto President Vadim Krasnoselski thanked EU committee chairman Ursula von der Leyen, but he did not address warm words to Chisinau.
Free gas
What preceded it: on January 1, the pipeline closed, causing Ukraine to transport Russian gas to Moldova. The five -year contract ended and was not renewed. Kyiv no longer wanted Moscow to earn billions with Ukrainian assistance.
The pipeline ran through Transnistria. That is a de facto autonomous Russian -language dependence on Moscow, a separatist region that declared itself independent in 1990, but is seen as part of Moldova. For almost twenty years it got Russian gas without payment. The gas was used for heating houses-the hot water supply is centrally controlled to Soviet model.
Residents of Varnita during a current interruption on January 17.
Photos: Daniel Mihailescu / AFP
With the gas, electricity was also generated in the large Cuciurgan power plant, which lies on the territory of Transnistria. The electricity was also sold to Moldova for a floor price. It provided affordable heat and electricity in the poor country. But after sticking the gas supply, this system caused an acute problem within one day.
Moldova quickly found a solution. By importing electricity from Romania and Ukraine, a crisis in the government was averted, but energy prices shot up, in some cases by 119 percent. Transnistria thought that was too expensive and believed that Russia would come to the rescue soon – with the result that the population ended up in the cold.
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Russian flag
A ferry with space for a dozen cars sails from the right to the left bank of the Dnjest in ten minutes. On arrival, soldiers in dark green uniforms with helmets are for an armored vehicle with Russian flag. It is the Transnistrian peace enforcement mission. In fact, there is even twilight area, a buffer zone where both Moldova and Transnistria have controlpoints.
“It is an area with two powers,” explains Oleg (57) in his house that has a view of the river. In the twilight zone, nobody wants his or her full name in the newspaper. The MGB security service to Soviet model is notorious.
The transition between Transnistria and Moldova is open. Oleg goes to the market in the Dubasari controlled by the separatists. His wife works in the European Union. “People here are told that Moscow will give free gas again. But that’s fake news, “says Oleg. “There is a saying: free cheese only exists for mice. You have to pay for everything in life. But there are people who don’t want that. “
People here are told that Moscow will give free gas again. But that’s fake news
Oleg is doing well with a wood stove in his house. He even built it so that he heats several rooms at the same time. The new gas delivery has not yet reached its house. He is not worried about possible price increases: if it turns out to be too expensive, I will simply heat up my wood stove again, he says cheerfully.
Photos: Mikhail Kalarashan
To Moscow
The situation for Alla is very different, who stands on her day off with a friend on the river bank. She has an apartment in a flat in Rybnitsa, in northern Transnistria, without a wood stove. “Who is without gas, God be with him. But as soon as the electricity also fails, everything is over. We don’t live in the seventeenth century? ”
Alla has three couples who left last month. “A fourth couple leaves tomorrow,” she says. Where to? “To Russia. We can fly to Moscow. ” Transnistrians who were born before the fall of the Soviet Union can claim a Russian passport. “To be honest, I would also like to leave. Take me to the Netherlands, “she jokes.
As soon as the electricity and heating reached her house again, she became happy, she says. “Now we have electricity for ten days and we are happy. But what will come afterwards? As a transnistrian you are nobody. A non-recognized Republic. We keep up, that’s how our people are. But it is very difficult. “
Parliamentary elections
The Pro-European Maia Sandu won with heels last year over the ditch the presidential elections of the candidate of the Socialist Party. The real test will be in the parliamentary elections next fall. If her liberal party only wants to have a chance, then Sandu will have to convince the population that the energy crisis cannot be charged. At the moment, many Moldavians doubt this, whether or not fed by a wave of propaganda that presents her as the ultimate evil.
In the evening a cold wind sets up around the Djnestr. Two retired Moldavian police officers stand by the side of the road in a village in the safety zone, somewhat drunk after a funeral of a former colleague. The funeral flowers are still on the street, under the swirling snowflakes.
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These men are also toxic about the suddenly risen costs in the government. “We say: the fish rotten from the head. For example, the government is rotating from there, “says one of the two. “Write it down what it’s like. We are not for Russia, we want to be independent and be friends with Russia and Europe. Russia gives us cheap gas and energy. We need that to survive. This situation with expensive energy is a consequence of incompetent administration. “
Another solution is already present. On Wednesday it was announced that the European Commission will come to the rescue: for ‘disconnecting Moldova of the uncertainties of the Russian energy supply’ and ‘fully integrating into the EU Energiemarkt’, a total of 250 million euros will be released this year. Consumers receive compensation for the high energy costs; 60 million euros is intended for Transnistria.
