Flows of Russian gas via Ukraine to central and eastern Europe stopped on New Year’s Day after a transit deal expired between the warring countries and Kyiv refused to extend it.

Transnistria, a mainly Russian-speaking enclave which has lived side-by-side with Moldova since breaking away from it in the last days of Soviet rule, received gas from Russian giant Gazprom through the pipeline crossing Ukraine.

The gas was used to operate a thermal plant which provided electricity locally and for much of Moldova under the control of the pro-European central government.

The region’s self-styled president, Vadim Krasnoselsky, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said rolling power cuts in various districts would be extended to four hours on Sunday.

Russia had been pumping about 2 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Transnistria - including a power plant providing energy for all of Moldova, a country of 2.5 million people that wants to join the European Union.

Separately from the gas transit dispute with Ukraine, Russian energy company Gazprom had said on December 28 that it would stop supplying gas to Moldova on January 1 because of $709 million in unpaid gas debts that Russia says Moldova owes it. Moldova disputes that, and has put the debt at $8.6 million.