Gazprom's board is proposing that about 1,600 managers and administrators be cut from its headquarters at St. Petersburg, citing recent challenges.

The issue lies in the fact that gas shipments to Transnistria through intermediaries breach Moldovan law. Read also: Kremlin’s gas gamble: Transnistria left in crisis "Gazprom, as the majority shareholder of Moldovagaz,

Gazprom is considering cutting about 40% of its headquarters staff - more than 1,500 job cuts - as the Russian gas giant grapples with the loss of most of its sales to Europe, state news agency TASS reported on Monday.

Transdniestria's separatist leader, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said his region had told Moldova's pro-European authorities two days earlier that it was ready to agree to a deal to accept - and pay for - gas supplies provided by the Moldovagaz national company.

Moscow plans to eventually supply as much as 55 billion cubic metres per year to help Tehran tackle an energy shortage

An energy crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people without heating and hot water in the breakaway region of Transnistria could soon end, officials in Moldova said Monday The Moldovan officials reported that the Moscow-friendly leaders of Transnistria had indicated they would accept shipments of gas from the European market to replace lost Russian supplies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow was in contact with its "Serbian friends" about the fate of Serbian oil company NIS, which Belgrade fears will face U.S. sanctions because Russia's Gazprom is its majority owner.

(Reuters) - Moldovan President Maia Sandu visited areas hit by rolling power cuts on Thursday and blamed Russian gas giant Gazprom for the energy crisis gripping the country's Transdniestria pro-Russian separatist enclave. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moldova and Ukraine were responsible for the heating and power shortages.

The US Treasury imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, which explore for, produce and sell oil as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil, many of which are in the so-called shadow fleet of ageing tankers operated by non-Western companies.

Russia's Gazprom is considering cutting hundreds of administrative jobs, a company spokesman confirmed to AFP on Monday, as the gas producer reels amid the loss of key exports to Europe.

The no-confidence vote, if it succeeds, will trigger a snap election. According to a recent January poll, the liberal opposition Progressive Slovakia is the most popular party in the country on 23.9 percent support, with Fico’s ruling Smer in second on 18 percent.

"I will be 100% on board with taking sanctions up," Treasury Secretary-pick Scott Bessent told lawmakers on Thursday.