"On April 5, gas supplies to Transnistria were suspended. The disruption is due to technical factors and will last until September 8-9," the press release from the Transnistrian leadership said.
According to the meeting chaired by Transnistria leader Vadim Krasnoselsky, when gas supplies are resumed, the heating season in Transnistria will be extended by a few days.
The heating season in Moldova's breakaway region ended on 2 February and an extension was necessary due to the cold air this week.
On February 14, European energy giant MET Group announced it would start supplying gas to Moldova.
The Transnistrian government later said that gas supplies to the breakaway region had been resumed with financial support from Russia.
After Ukraine stopped transiting Russian gas to Europe on January 1 due to contract expiration and Chisinau's refusal to repay debts to Russia's Gazprom, Moldova and the breakaway region of Transnistria were cut off from gas.
In particular, Transnistria has completely lost connection to all external gas sources. Industrial businesses in the region have closed, alternating power cuts have been implemented and apartment buildings in Transnistria do not have heating or hot water systems at times when the outside temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius.
In another development related to Transnistria, on April 7, Director of the Transnistria Hydrometeorological Center Vitaly Kolvenko said that the water level in the Dniester River had dropped to almost its lowest level ever due to drought and the operation of Ukrainian engineers at the hydropower plant in Novodnestrovsk, Chernovtsy region.
"If the water level drops another 20 cm, the water level will be as severe as last summer - the lowest level ever recorded. The only time the water level was lower was in 1957 because the water was introduced when Dubossary Reservoir was completed," said Kolvenko on TSV.
Mr. Boris German - head of Dubossary hydropower plant - also said that the low water level was due to drought and the operation of Ukrainian power engineers in the upstream.
"Last April, they released about 1 billion cubic meters of water in just one month. Since then, their reservoirs have not been able to recharge. They clearly expect summer rains in the Carpathians, but summer is dry. Therefore, for nearly a year, we have only received what is called the minimum cleaning level - about 100-120 m3/s" - he said.
Ilya Trombitsky - CEO of Moldova's Eco-Tiras environmental agency - commented that low water levels could affect the reproduction of some fish species, causing them to disappear in the Dniester River for a certain period of time.
