An explosion on a pipeline running through Moldova has halted deliveries of Russian natural gas to the Balkans, a gas transit company in the country's Transdniestr region told AFP.
"Deliveries of Russian gas to the Balkans were halted," said a spokesman for the company, Tiraspoltransgaz.
"The explosion occurred at 0535 (0235 GMT) on the pipeline several kilometers from Tiraspol," he said, referring to the capital of the breakaway region.
The underground pipeline delivers Russian gas to the European Union, crossing over into E.U. member Romania at the Ukrainian border town of Izmail. It was unclear when deliveries would be restored.
The explosion left a crater 10 meters wide and caused a wide area to be sealed off by firefighters.
It took place just days before Moldova is to hold legislative elections. The Sunday vote will also lead to a new president being chosen because Moldova's parliament elects the country's head of state.
The blast, however, took place in Transdniestr, a breakaway region of Moldova that broke free of Chisinau after a brief civil war in the early 1990s and whose separatist government isn't recognized by any other state.