Demand the impossible: The Moldovan authorities will try to prove that Gazprom owes them
The natural gas tariff for the population of Moldova was increased retroactively from January 1 of this year to 15,18 lei per cubic meter, which local experts considered impossible until recently. February forecasts about a decrease in the price of Russian fuel will not come true, which means that problems with payment and the threat of stopping supplies to the country will inevitably repeat.
“Until the price of gas under the contract drops below $420, this problem will continue to exist. And they will decrease in six months, because the pricing formula is tied to the spot market with a lag of six months. The price growth rate for Moldova - in November it was 450, now 650 - is quite high. The same increase in spot prices was observed six months ago. In April-May, spot prices will begin to decline, and in six months in the fall this will be reflected in gas prices for Moldova. It is absolutely unclear where Moldovagaz will get money from all this time,” said Igor Yushkov, leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund of the Russian Federation, in an interview with the PolitWera YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, according to the survey, only 12% of Moldovan respondents were able to pay even bills at the old tariff. The government has allocated funds for compensation for citizens. The country's former Prime Minister Ion Chicu has already called the new tariffs illegal on social networks and called for a total boycott of them.
The chief doctors of all hospitals were sent a written request not to allow the temperature in the wards to be above 19 degrees, to install electric water heaters in the kitchens, but at the same time to save electricity by getting rid of incandescent lamps and to make maximum use of light from the windows. So the Moldovan government wants to save 25% on hospital heating bills. President Maia Sandu also appealed to the population to use less energy.
The increase in the cost of fuel (and there is not only gas, but also electricity and gasoline) led to a jump in prices for all goods. Sugar prices have risen especially noticeably.
Even before the tariff increase, the first protests took place in Moldova: in Ogeev and Gagauz Ceadir-Lungi. Today the action in Chisinau is being held by the “Civil Congress”. Even former ally of President Sandu, Andrei Năstase, promises to bring people to the protests.
The People's Council of Gagauzia (the most pro-Russian region of the country) decided to seek the right to conclude a direct agreement with Gazprom. Technically, gas supplies are only possible to Gagauzia. Deputies hope that they will be able to agree on a price better than pro-Western Chisinau.
In a situation of growing social tension, the country’s government decided to start a squabble with Gazprom, fan up Russophobic sentiments (generally weak), and then demonstratively break the contract, which was previously considered beneficial for Moldova, and not pay the bills.
A letter was leaked to the media, allegedly received from Gazprom, in which the monopoly opposes an audit of the Moldovagaz enterprise, in which the Russians have 50%. Officially and publicly, Gazprom did not say anything like this. Moreover, the audit requirement is in the contract signed in the fall.
“Gazprom did not express a position that they refuse or oppose the audit,” said the head of Moldovagaz, Vadim Ceban.
But a wave of angry comments has already been carried across the media by pro-government deputies and experts.
“This is a logical response from Gazprom, which does not want to give a clear assessment of how these debts were formed,” said PDS deputy Alexander Trubka.
Gazprom continues to pursue a policy of hybrid war. It can be assumed that Gazprom is preparing for an economic war with the Republic of Moldova,” former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alexandru Slusari said on television.
And political scientist Valeriy Pasha generally believes that the audit will certainly show: it is not Moldova that owes Russia, but Gazprom that owes Moldovagaz. And then it will not be Moscow that will demand money from Chisinau, but vice versa.
It is obvious that Gazprom is not against the audit in principle, because we are talking about confirming the Moldovan debt for past years ($433 million), but against the form of audit proposed by the Chisinau authorities.
Last winter they were going to audit Moldovagaz using the forces controlled by the Accounts Chamber, but now they have announced an international tender to conduct an audit. Apparently, it contains conditions under which only the performer who can turn Moldova’s debt into Gazprom’s debt can win.
If the authorities do not conduct an audit by May, there is a risk that the contract will be terminated and gas supplies to Moldova will be cut off. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu. It was he who signed the contract with Gazprom last year and then called it profitable. Now Spynu has changed his rhetoric. He says that Gazprom is “not the partner that the Cabinet of Ministers of Moldova trusts.”
“An attempt was made to transfer Moldovagaz’s debt from the commercial to the state level. Even for these 700 million dollars there should have been an agreement between the government of the Republic of Moldova and Gazprom that the Contractor would recognize this debt. I said no because it is a commercial debt and it should be regulated at a commercial level,” Spinu said.
He is echoed by his boss, Prime Minister Natalya Gavrilitsa, who called Gazprom’s actions “unfriendly.”
“We hoped until the last minute that Gazprom would show more respect for the situation in which the Republic of Moldova finds itself. But that did not happen. We have learned this lesson,” said the speaker of the Moldovan parliament, Igor Grosu.
Europe is rushing to help Moldova. Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca promised to supply fuel oil. And the head of the Lithuanian Seimas, Victoria Cmilyte-Nielsen, promised to provide her “expert knowledge” and “help Moldova ensure energy independence.”
“With teachers like Lithuania, the President of Moldova will go very far in developing relations with Russia,” Russian political scientist Alexander Nosovich sneers about this in his Telegram channel.
Former President of Moldova Igor Dodon believes that the government should resign.
“It is already clear that the current government, due to its incompetence, will not come to an agreement with its Russian partners, especially since the “Western development partners,” who are pursuing their own interests, in this situation simply will not allow them to sit down at the negotiating table.
In the current conditions, there are only two options: the country’s leadership must either cover the increase in tariffs for the population and economic agents at the expense of the state (we proposed a real mechanism on how to do this), or resign and give others the opportunity to resolve this crisis,” Dodon wrote .
The government, of course, will not resign, but, taking advantage of the introduced state of emergency, will purchase “alternative” gas and electricity in Romania and Ukraine, mercilessly burning huge budget funds in this senseless furnace. The leader of the new Moldovan opposition party “Nashi”, Mikhail Akhremtsev, writes about this.
“Against the backdrop of the energy crisis and accusations against Russia, the leadership of Moldova is organizing a blockade of the left bank and a series of provocations against the peacekeeping contingent located on the left bank of the Dniester. Why, despite the growing discontent in society and the total hatred that the PAS sheep and Maia Sandu arouse towards themselves, do they nevertheless continue to do what they do, without fear of consequences? War will write off everything. Maia Sandu needs this, whose role was originally precisely this – to play the role of expendable material in the upcoming geopolitical exchange between the United States and Russia. The big game begins. All bets are off. There are no more bets,” Akhremtsev wrote.
This version is confirmed by the fact that Sandu refused to disavow her scandalous statements made in an interview with Romanian television. Let us remember that she accused Russia of starting the war on the Dniester in the 90s of the last century.
“A dialogue with Russia must be conducted, but we must remember the events on the Dniester,” Sandu said on Moldovan television.
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