The tiny separatist republic bordering Ukraine has been unable to provide heating and hot water to residents since New Year’s Day, when Russia’s Gazprom turned off the spigot over a financial dispute

Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom says it will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1, citing alleged unpaid debt by the east European country.

Russian energy giant Gazprom said on Saturday it would suspend gas exports to Moldova from 0500 GMT on Jan. 1 due to unpaid debt by Moldova, which is bracing for severe power cuts.

Gazprom will cease supplying natural gas to the Moldovan company Moldovagaz, which "will leave pro-Russian Transnistria in the cold," reports "Gazeta Wyborcza" on Tuesday. The energy crisis will pose a challenge for Chisinau during the year of parliamentary elections.

An energy crisis has left over 51,000 households in Transdniestria without gas and winter heat. Moldova and Russia are trading blame, while the separatist region, heavily reliant on Russian gas, faces challenges as Ukraine halts transit.

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC will halt natural gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1 due to an alleged debt impasse amid a state of emergency in the Eastern European nation’s energy sector.

Moldova faces a security crisis, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said on Friday after its separatist pro-Moscow Transdniestria region, cut off from supplies of Russian gas, closed factories, restricted central heating and imposed rolling power blackouts.

Moldova may face a security crisis if Russia cuts off gas supplies to Transnistria. This is a threat to the country's stability and territorial integrity, stated Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean,