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       MOSCOW: Russia’s Gazprom announced on Saturday that it will halt gas supplies to Moldova from January 1 over a debt dispute during a state of emergency over energy security in the tiny country.

       The move comes as several Eastern European countries brace for an end to Russian gas supplies, as Kyiv will block the flow of Russian gas via its territory in several days.

       Moldova earlier this month introduced a 60-day state of emergency before the expected cut.

       “Gazprom will introduce a restriction on natural gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova to zero cubic meters per day from 0500 GMT on January 1, 2025,” the company said in a statement, accusing Chisinau of failing to settle debts.

       It said it made the move “in connection with the refusal by the Moldovan side to regulate debts”.

       Gazprom accused Chisinau of not fulfilling its side of contracts and said it “reserved the right” for further action, including terminating a gas supply contract with Moldova.

       Russia supplies Moldova with gas piped to the separatist region of Transnistria.

       The country gets most of its electricity from a power station based in Transnistria that uses Russian gas.

       Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2024