The history of Moldova spans prehistoric cultures, ancient and medieval empires, and periods of foreign rule and modern independence.
Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a landlocked breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. It controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester river and the Moldova–Ukraine border, as well as some land on the other side of the river's bank. Its capital and largest city is Tiraspol. Transnistria is officially designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester or as Stînga Nistrului.
The gas-fired Cuciurgan power station, the largest power station in Moldova, is located in Transnistria, on the shores of the Cuciurgan Reservoir bordering Ukraine. As of 2024 it generates over three quarters of Moldova's electricity. Commissioned in 1964, it formerly burned some coal and fuel oil.
The Trans-Balkan pipeline is a natural gas pipeline between Turkey and Ukraine with branches to Greece and North Macedonia. It was used by Gazprom for gas deliveries through Balkan countries to Turkey. Before construction of the Blue Stream pipeline it was the only international natural gas pipeline supplying Turkey.
Modern Moldova-Romania relations emerged after the Republic of Moldova gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Pan-Romanianism has been a consistent part of Moldovan politics, and was adopted in the Popular Front of Moldova's platform in 1992. The official language of Moldova is Romanian. The peoples of the two countries share common traditions and folklore, including a common name for the monetary unit – the leu. At present, relations between the two states are exceptionally friendly, especially on account of the pro-Romanian administration of Maia Sandu in Moldova.
Moldova–Russia relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation, two Eastern European, post-Soviet, ex-communist countries. Russian support for the self-proclaimed Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria) and a substantial Russian military presence therein strained Moldovan relations with Russia.
Russia supplies a significant volume of fossil fuels to other European countries. In 2021, it was the largest exporter of oil and natural gas to the European Union, (90%) and 40% of gas consumed in the EU came from Russia.
With few natural energy resources, Moldova imports almost all of its energy supplies. 50% of the country's national energy company, Moldovagaz, is owned by Russian oil and natural gas supplier Gazprom, the remaining 50% split between the Moldovan government (36.6%) and the unrecognised government of Transnistria (13.4%). Moldova's historic dependence on Russian energy is underscored by a debt of more than US$709 million to Gazprom as well as a further US$7 billion by Transnistria. Russia supplies the breakaway pro-Russian region with oil and natural gas without requiring them to pay, with the cost levied as debt against the Moldovan state as a form of economic warfare. The Moldovan government disputes the figures, and has identified more than US$100 million in fraudulent claims by Gazprom.
Dorin Recean is a Moldovan economist, politician, and academic serving as Prime Minister of Moldova since February 2023. Since 2022 he has also served as Presidential Advisor on Defense and National Security, and Secretary of Moldova's Supreme Security Council. He previously served as Minister of Internal Affairs of Moldova from July 2012 to February 2015. He has extensive experience in the private sector and in the IT industry with a specialisation in data, including big data, and information analysis. He also worked in development institutions and was previously a lecturer at several universities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Romania has supported Moldova on several occasions, supplying it with medical equipment and supplies, volunteer Romanian experts and doctors and even a series of COVID-19 vaccine units that arrived on 27 February 2021, which allowed Moldova to start its vaccination program.
The 5+2 format, also known as the 5+2 talks, the 5+2 negotiations and the 5+2 process, is a diplomatic negotiation platform aimed at finding a solution to the Transnistria conflict between Moldova and the unrecognized state of Transnistria. It is composed of the latter two, which are designated as "parties to the conflict", and Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), "mediators" of the negotiations. The European Union (EU) and the United States act as "observers". The inclusion of Romania into the 5+2 format has been proposed.
Events from the year 2022 in Moldova.
The Russia–EU gas dispute flared up in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Russia and the major EU countries clashed over the issue of payment for natural gas pipelined to Europe by Russia's Gazprom, amidst sanctions on Russia that were expanded in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In June, Gazprom claimed it was obliged to cut the flow of gas to Germany by more than half, as a result of such sanctions that prevented the Russian company from receiving its turbine component from Canada. On 26 September 2022, three of the four pipes of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines were sabotaged. This resulted in a record release of 115,000 tonnes of methane (CH4) – an equivalent of 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) – and is believed to have made a contribution to global warming.
The 2021–2022 global energy crisis has caused varying effects in different parts of the world.
On 18 September 2022, protests in Moldova began in the capital city of Chișinău, demanding the resignation of the country's pro-Western government, amid an energy crisis causing rising natural gas prices and inflation, caused in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Events from the year 2023 in Moldova.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moldova accepted Ukrainian refugees, opened a bank account for donations, and unofficially imposed sanctions on Russia.
On 31 December 2024, at 19:50 EET, Moldova's unrecognized breakaway region of Transnistria stopped receiving natural gas supplies from Russia when Ukraine's gas transit deal with Russia expired. Historically, Transnistria had covered most of Moldova's electricity needs through the Cuciurgan power station, which functioned with Russian gas supplied to Transnistria for free. However, with the termination of Russian gas supplies to Transnistria and the end of Moldovan purchases of Transnistrian electricity, the possibility of a humanitarian crisis in Transnistria has arisen, which could potentially lead to the collapse of the breakaway state and its reintegration into Moldova. Three people have died in Transnistria since the start of the energy crisis due to carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Iași–Chișinău pipeline, also known as the Iași–Ungheni–Chișinău pipeline, is a natural gas pipeline going from Iași in Romania to Chișinău in Moldova. The pipeline was inaugurated in 2014 and connected Iași with the Moldovan town of Ungheni. It was extended to the capital Chișinău in 2019, with the compressor stations being put into operation in 2021. However, it was not used until the 2022–2023 Moldovan energy crisis.
Energocom is a state-owned company that is Moldova's central electricity supplier. It has had this status since 25 March 2018, when a government decision from 1 November 2017 came into force. As of 2020, the Moldovan government held 100% of the company's shares. Energocom was created by a government decision on 30 December 2004. The company's main purpose is the supply of electricity, its import and export and the carrying out of electricity exchanges with external interconnection partners for the internal electricity balancing market, in order to avoid production–consumption imbalances. Energocom also supplies gas.
