Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00As the Russian gas pipeline is turned off, Moldovans are worried about where their heating
00:04for the rest of the winter will come from.
00:07The country's government has announced a 60-day state of emergency in response to the energy
00:12crisis.
00:13Russian gas giant Gazprom announced that it would halt deliveries of gas to the former
00:17Soviet Republic because of money it says it is owed by Kizilnau.
00:22But the Moldovan government disputes this.
00:24The crisis has left many ordinary Moldovans concerned.
00:28I feel we're going into a crisis that will be very difficult to solve at this moment
00:35and I don't really see a way out of it and it worries me.
00:39Price increases are one thing, but when there's no gas at all, that's something entirely different.
00:45There will be no heating, no lights, so we're entering a very difficult year.
00:52The situation is compounded further by Ukraine ending a five-year agreement to allow Russian
00:57gas to be transferred through its territory.
01:00Almost a third of the Russian gas sold to Europe is transported via Ukraine, mainly
01:05through the Brotherhood and Soyuz pipelines.
01:08Most of the rest comes via the TurkStream black sea route.
01:11Kiev's cutting off the gas means that central European countries have been scrambling to
01:16find alternatives.
01:17They are alternatives, but they tend to be a bit more expensive than the Russian pipeline
01:22gas.
01:23The impact will be felt, especially in Austria, in Hungary and Slovakia, where the price of
01:27gas will likely rise and this could have an impact on consumer prices, on the cost of
01:35living, but also on prices for industry.
01:39While Hungary gets most of its gas via TurkStream, it had been keen to keep supplies through
01:44Ukraine open.
01:45Slovakia, whose Prime Minister Robert Fico is an ally of Moscow's, has threatened retaliation
01:51by cutting off electricity supplies to Ukraine.
01:54Fico insists that Kiev's move will hurt Europe more than it will Russia, though Gazprom will
01:59lose $5 billion in sales.
02:02Another rise in energy prices could also result in further grumbling in some EU countries
02:07about Western support for Ukraine.