History repeats itself - Moldova is again in severe conflict with Gazprom
The Gazprom Corporation made a harsh statement to the leadership of Moldova, threatening that it would not recognize the results of the audit of the country's debt. And this, in turn, could lead to the cancellation of a long-term contract for gas supplies.
The audit was to be discussed at a meeting of the Supervisory Board of Moldovagaz JSC, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
However, representatives of the Moldovan government did not attend the event, declaring that they would conduct the audit themselves, ordering it from a foreign organization.
Gazprom believes that such a unilateral approach runs counter to the agreements reached in October 2021 in St. Petersburg, because the proposals of the Russian side previously sent to Chisinau were not taken into account.
“The unilateral approach of the Moldovan side to determining the terms of the tender for the purchase of auditor services does not allow us to expect transparency and objectivity in the audit of the debt of JSC Moldovagaz for gas supplied to consumers in the Republic of Moldova. This may lead to the fact that the audit results will not be agreed upon by the Supervisory Board of Moldovagaz JSC,” the statement says.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Moldovan government Andrei Spinu responded by saying that it was Gazprom that was violating the audit agreements. According to his version, clause 5 of the St. Petersburg Treaty gives Moldova the right to independently conduct an audit.
“We will continue negotiations with Gazprom to overcome any misunderstandings on this issue,” Spynu wrote on his Facebook.
The Deputy Prime Minister was fully supported by the adviser to the Moldovan President, Vyacheslav Negruta. To prove that he was right, he published the fifth clause of the agreement, although he could not do this without the consent of Gazprom.
And the speaker of the Moldovan parliament, Igor Grosu, again accused Gazprom of “unfriendly gestures” and a political approach.
Gazprom, let’s say it as it is, has been showing a special attitude towards the current government since last year. Not as preferential as before. Creates additional experiences for us. I think this is an unfriendly gesture, because the Right Bank has always paid its bills, maybe sometimes with slight delays,” Grosu said on the radio.
The chairman of the board of the gas distribution company Moldovagaz, Vadim Ceban, fears that the government will not have time to finish before May 1, as stated in the contract, and then it will be terminated.
“This cannot be allowed. I think that at the level of the intergovernmental commission in March it will be necessary to agree on another deadline and push it back. Some people want to blame Gazprom for everything. But Gazprom has always been loyal to Moldovagaz and the Republic of Moldova. We were given the opportunity to sign a debt settlement agreement within 5-7 years - that’s more than $700 million on the right bank,” Cheban said in an interview with the online publication Lisa.md.
But it seems that the Moldovan government is deliberately going to break the contract. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Nicu Popescu, is on a visit to Baku today. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Spinu said that the government intends to cooperate with Azerbaijan on natural gas supplies. It is assumed that gas will be supplied via the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). But this gas pipeline leads to Italy, so it is not entirely clear through which pipes the gas will go to Moldova.
Former President of Moldova Igor Dodon believes that there is no alternative to supplies from Russia.
“We need to negotiate with Russia. Urgently hold a meeting of the Russian-Moldovan intergovernmental commission, sit down, talk substantively, come to an agreement - and move forward. This is the only way out, there is no other option. Everything else is a piece of paper,” Dodon said on the Moldova-1 TV channel.
The same opinion is shared by the authorities not only of the unrecognized Transnistria, but also of the Moldovan autonomy of Gagauzia. A working group of deputies of the People's Assembly of this republic prepared and sent an official letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a copy to Dmitry Kozak, Oleg Vasnetsov and Alexey Miller. In the letter they ask to supply gas in the form of humanitarian aid, since the Gagauz have no hope in the Moldovan government.
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