By Nino Beruashvili
November 2025 • 5-Minute Read

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The EU accession package 2025 evaluates Moldova’s efforts in the area of energy as “very good progress” for the country, which overcame the unprecedented challenges posed by Russia and its proxies since early 2022. The report accentuates the full alignment with the Electricity Integration Package and the adaptation of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) as successful examples toward energy independence and supply diversification (European Commission, 2025).

Diversification efforts were sparked in the wake of Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine in 2022. At the time, Moldova’s energy self-sufficiency was among the lowest in the world, with only 25% of its energy covered by domestic production. However, the major problem was the source of the remaining supply, with up to 80% of the electricity coming from Moldavskaya GRES in Transnistria, an infamous hostage of Kremlin influence (International Energy Agency, 2022).

The Russian strategy to control the governments by gas and energy supplies came into use again in late 2022 when Gazprom cut gas imports to Moldova by 30%, which resulted in the cut of power deliveries by Transnistrian authorities by 73%. A crisis emerged when the electricity prices plunged by 200%, and after Russian missiles began targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, Ukraine was forced to suspend the electricity export to Moldova. Eventually, Romania became a savior, providing 90% of Moldova’s electricity demand in a short time (St. Leger, 2022). Nonetheless, the 2022 energy crisis revealed Moldova’s biggest vulnerability, and the country was left with no choice but to look for alternate sources if energy security and political stability were something they wanted to secure in the future.

Notably, Moldova demonstrated a notable commitment to improve its energy security on a policy level. By the end of 2023, the country secured gas reserves in Ukraine and Romania, shifting toward its European partners. More importantly, Moldova connected to the ENSTO-E European electricity network and switched to alternative energy sources, like renewable energy and firewood. To protect households, the government launched the Energy Vulnerability Reduction Fund (EVRF), providing monthly compensation (Norwegian Refugee Council, 2023).

Despite these efforts, reducing dependence on Russian gas or energy has proven challenging, as Russia has not been planning on giving away the means of political manipulation just yet. Predictably, Russia seized the first available opportunity in early 2025.

On January 1, 2025, Gazprom unilaterally cut off channeling gas to the region after the Ukraine & Gazprom gas-transit deal was terminated. By doing so, no alternate routes were exploited to provide supplies to Transnistria, and 350,000 inhabitants of the region were left without light or heat in the middle of a harsh winter (St. Leger, 2025). According to EU sources, Gazprom has not honored contractual obligations, which resulted in the region’s reliance on coal and gas reserves, which appeared to be insufficient to provide electricity to the population (European Commission, 2025).

The initial response to the severe energy crisis that required emergency assistance came from the European Union. The EU emergency package provided 30 million euros to purchase gas that could be used to produce electricity and heating for the region. Yet it was only the first step to support Moldova in tackling the severe crisis. Beyond that, Moldova’s president Maia Sandu and EU commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos agreed on a two-year strategy and a total €250 million package for 2025 to support the country’s long-term aspiration of energy independence (St. Leger, 2025). Furthermore, the strategy acts as a guarantee from the European Union that joint efforts will be made to fully integrate Moldova into the EU energy market so that Russian blackmail practices can prove pointless.

2025 has seen a boost in Moldova’s partnership with Romania and Ukraine. Seeing the situation as an opportunity to transform vulnerability into resilience, Moldova joined the initiatives—Vulcănești–Smârdan, Comrat–Smârdan, and Vulcănești–Artsyz projects—that will expand the regional network and put Moldova as an active participant in the European energy market (Nigai, 2025).

Moldova has been effectively working with Ukraine, Greece, and Bulgaria as a major player in the Vertical Gas Corridor, which strengthens the region’s energy security, aside from interconnection projects with Romania. The realization that energy has evolved from being merely an economic sector to a guarantee of freedom, security, and a tool of solidarity is the source of the renewed desire to establish more links in the energy industry (Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Moldova, 2025).

Overviewing Moldova’s active resistance to challenges to its energy and gas industries posed by Russia and its proxies shows that the recent reforms have lessened immediate vulnerabilities. Energy security, once thought of as one of the most reliable means of manipulation, has recently become a catalyst for Moldova tightening its relations with the EU, Ukraine, Romania, and the whole region. Even though some projects are still not finalized and issues like system rigidity or inadequate infrastructure and excessive expenses still slow down the process, Moldova is closer to energy independence than anyone could have predicted, with strengthened partnerships being the core reason

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