First Sign of Gas Crunch in Europe Hits Moldova Region

The first signs of gas supply problems have emerged in Europe, with Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region warning of short supply. Chances are the situation will deteriorate further unless Middle Eastern LNG flows resume soon—at the moment, a highly unlikely scenario. Transnistria, also called Transdniestria and Pridnestrovie, is a pro-Russian region of Moldova that broke away from the former Soviet republic in the early 1990s. The Russian-speaking region, until recently, received natural gas from Russia essentially for free—and…