Moldova will supply 3 million cubic meters of natural gas to the Moscow-backed separatist region of Transnistria as a temporary solution to its energy crisis, officials announced Monday. The move follows the European Commission’s pledge of an emergency assistance package worth 30 million euros ($31.

Unrecognized Transnistria announced its readiness to purchase natural gas through the Moldovan company Moldovagaz. Tiraspol allegedly notified Chisinau of this

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.

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.