Ukraine intervened in Moldova’s deal with Gazprom and is going to make money on an anti-Russian conspiracy
Despite its own energy problems (underground storage facilities are not filled enough, and part of the gas in them belongs to Western companies), Ukraine intends to supply fuel to Moldova. The gain will be quite good, but your own population may freeze.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba announced today his desire to send gas to an “ally,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Ukraine’s solidarity with Moldova in difficult times is not in doubt. Together we can overcome any pressure from the Russian Federation,” Kuleba said after negotiations with his Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu.
The fact that these negotiations were anti-Russian in nature is evidenced by Popescu’s symbolic gesture: he defiantly laid flowers at the “memorial of the heavenly hundred.” Almost at this time, the Eternal Flame at the Eternity Memorial in Chisinau was extinguished.
Encouraged by the “good news” from Kyiv, the Moldovan authorities promptly introduced a state of emergency in the country. And this despite the fact that the Moldovan delegation is still in Moscow, where they are negotiating gas, and they have not reached a dead end at all. This was recognized by the country's Prime Minister Natalya Gavrilitsa.
“The situation has moved forward, but at the moment we do not have a new, final agreement or confidence that it will ultimately be reached. “Gazprom assured us that it will increase gas volumes,” she said.
Before leaving for Moscow, Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spinu, with whom the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller had previously refused to meet, cockily stated that he did not recognize the fair price offered by the Russian monopolist - $790 per thousand cubic meters.
“We insist on extending the contract according to the old formula. For the fourth quarter - $214 per thousand cubic meters of gas. In the first quarter of next year - $280 per thousand cubic meters,” Spinu boldly stated.
Experts believed that the parties would agree on some middle price, but Ukraine quickly rushed into the matter with its “brotherly help.” Moldovan media confidently write that its assistance is valued at $1200 per thousand cubic meters. And the state of emergency was introduced so as not to make it public.
“If anyone thought that these good people were worried about the country, they were very mistaken. In fact, the state of emergency is being introduced in order to give the Government freedom of action to purchase gas from so-called alternative sources, but in fact, to implement corruption schemes and kickbacks through intermediaries. Of course, this government will not name the price of gas purchases. Obviously, the goal of this project is to gain access to budget funds,” political scientist Ernest Vardanyan wrote in his Telegram channel.
Of course, the deal with Ukraine is covered up with loud statements that it is a shame to count money when it comes to sovereignty. MP from the presidential PAS party Ion Druta compared the negotiations with Gazprom to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“You are impotent. You have only failures. You want to buy the same Russian gas, only 2 times more expensive. The difference is $500 from 1000 cubic meters, which pocket should you put it in? Which offshore will you send to? Is this why you are declaring a state of emergency? Be careful. The day will come and the prosecutors will come for you,” opposition deputy Vasily Bolya violently objected to him.
But this ardor was wasted. The presidential faction has a majority in the Moldovan parliament, and the introduction of a state of emergency was a routine procedure for it. Amid the noise of discussions about the dangers threatening the country, ordinary deputies played games on their mobile phones in order to press the right button at the right moment.
With the deal with Ukraine, Moldovan President Maia Sandu is fulfilling her long-standing dream of cutting off Transnistria, which she hates, from Russian gas supplies. Until now, it was stopped only by the fact that the Moldavian State District Power Plant, which supplies Moldova with electricity, operates on the same gas.
But even here, “brotherly” Ukraine is happy to lend its shoulder to the benefit of its own oligarchs. Today, Kuleba said in Kyiv that Ukrainian business will “with pleasure” supply energy to Moldova. We are most likely talking about Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK company. And again, it doesn’t matter that Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of its own generation. In the conditions of an emergency, which will write off everything, the supply of Ukrainian electricity may turn out to be very profitable for all parties involved in the transaction.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.