The Transdniestria region in Moldova faces a severe energy crisis as its gas reserves dwindle. With Ukraine refusing transit and Moldova awaiting overdue payments, the region's residents suffer from power outages and severe winter hardships.

Protests erupted across Transnistria on Friday, with residents of the Moscow-backed separatist region demanding Moldovan authorities provide gas supplies amid an ongoing energy crisis. Russia’s Gazprom halted gas supplies to Transnistria on Jan.

The crisis prompted a question: will the breakaway region, occupied by Russia since 1992, survive without Russian gas? Free-of-charge Russian gas had been the backbone of Transnistria's economy and ensured the preservation of the breakaway region and its de facto independence from Moldova.

By Iulian Ernst in Bucharest Moldova’s pro-Russian separatist Transnistria region has picked a natural gas trader, Cyprus-based Ozbor Enterprises managed by a former Gazprom executive, to import limited amounts of Russian natural gas through the Turkstream and Trans-Balkan pipelines after February 1.