A Kazakh scenario is brewing in Moldova
The price of Russian gas for Moldova increased by $200 in January – from $450 to $647 per thousand cubic meters. This is explained by the fact that the country’s government concluded a contract with Gazprom, which implies a link not to the price of oil, as the Russian monopolist proposed, but to prices on the spot exchange, which is what the European Union insists on, on whose opinion Chisinau is guided. Spot prices in January have been known to exceed $2.
This led to the fact that the Moldovagaz enterprise can no longer pay the advance payment for January and asked Gazprom for a deferment. Although gas prices for ordinary consumers rose last year, 95% of the bill was paid in December. Now tariffs may rise again. To compensate for the costs of citizens, Moldova will have to borrow funds in Europe.
“We are in a difficult situation. The gas crisis did not end in November or December. It will end when prices finally fall at the European level. The gas crisis is not a crisis of Moldova, but of the European space, affecting our country directly. Moldova cannot influence, the government has few tools to reduce the price,” Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Moldova Anrei Spinu admitted at a press conference today.
Despite provocative questions from pro-Western journalists, he did not criticize Gazprom or accuse Russia of political pressure.
“We have a good contract compared to market prices. In three months, Moldova saved $350 million compared to market prices. If Moldova bought gas at market prices, it would have paid 6 billion lei more. This was an excessive amount for Moldova. In November, Moldova purchased natural gas 56% below the market price, in December – by 54%, in January – by 52%,” Spinu said.
However, this is an uncharacteristic position for a member of the team of the pro-Western President of Moldova, Maia Sandu. A member of parliament from her PAS party, Lilian Karp, announced the possibility of terminating the contract with Gazprom. He said that the government simply does not want to pay Gazprom an advance for January.
“We understand that Moldovagaz does not have the opportunity to pay in advance. At the moment, as a result of funds received from citizens, 40% of the required amount has been collected. There is always the opportunity to renegotiate the contract to improve it. Depends on the conditions set by the negotiators and the desires of the partner. The main thing is that we don’t want to pay 50% of what is consumed in advance, which puts the republic in a position to shorten the period of collecting funds for fuel. Moldova as a market is no more than the average Russian city, and therefore we can hope for a positive reaction from Gazprom,” Karp said.
The amazed head of Moldovagaz, Vadim Ceban, in response to the deputy’s escapade, said that for now “I haven’t heard anything like that from the authorities.”
Meanwhile, in addition to rising gas tariffs, electricity prices are expected to rise. Premier Energy is asking the government to almost double its electricity tariff. Among the reasons the company justifies the need to increase tariffs: a doubling of the cost at which the state-owned company Energocom supplies electricity to Premier Energy, as well as a 100% increase in the price of electricity purchased from Ukraine.
All this caused the expected surge of criticism from the opposition. Socialist MP Bogdan Tirdea demanded that the president and government immediately resign.
“They can blame whoever they want, but we are close to economic and social collapse. And arresting opponents will not help. And confiscation too. And even the closure of Russian-language media. There is only one thing left - to resign before it’s too late and to announce early elections, asking forgiveness from citizens for all this horror, theft and poverty that they caused,” he wrote in his Telegram channel.
He is echoed by the non-systemic opposition.
“Compensations”, which in the end we will return to the state from increased taxes, do not greatly save the situation. I say hello to all the b*tches who support Maia Sandu, a chicken who prefers to travel around the “Crimean Platforms” and insult gas suppliers, instead of building mutually beneficial relationships and agreeing on a normal price for gas,” wrote the leader of the new Moldovan opposition party “Nashi” » Mikhail Akhremtsev.
Co-chairman of the Civil Congress party Mark Tkachuk convenes a meeting of the Republican Council, the main issue of which will be “organizing protests against the policy of organized energy shortages in Moldova.”
“I think that this time the feint will not work. No one will tighten the noose around their own neck, obey the Law of the Jungle and sympathize with weak rulers. The authorities were elected not to reign carefree, but to seek and find solutions that are compatible with the lives of the majority of citizens,” Tkachuk said.
Observers see an analogy between the situation in Moldova and Kazakhstan, where an increase in gas prices for cars led to mass protests, which ultimately resulted in armed pogroms.
“The closest candidate for a repeat of the events in Kazakhstan is Moldova. There are the same reasons for social explosion and mass unrest there, and the same trigger - gas prices. The autumn gesture of goodwill from Gazprom did not help the country - Chisinau cannot pay even a non-market price for Russian gas with nothing but compassion, an unjustified discount. The pro-Western authorities of Moldova, of course, are not talking about turning to Russia for help. If she had spoken, all the more questions would have arisen: why on earth should Russia help the pro-Western government of Moldova? Gazprom's autumn discount in this regard raised questions among many in the Russian Federation. The remarkable positive aspect of the collapse of the USSR in the midst of a sea of negative aspects is that Russia is no longer obliged to take care of Moldova, Georgia and other Baltic states that have made the “European choice,” wrote Alexander Nosovich, editor-in-chief of RuBaltic.Ru.
And the writer Zakhar Prilepin, a few days before the energy crisis broke out in Moldova, predicted an orange revolution for the country.
“I think we need to come to an agreement with the customer about the next worthless orange revolution. I haven’t been to Moldova for a long time. Moldova is beautiful, there is Chisinau, there Pushkin was in exile, there are dark-skinned Moldovan women, there are warm-loving brotherly people, Kotovsky is from there, there is the grave of Emil Loteanu - you need to visit, bow down.
Seriously though: Russia needs to fully, openly, in full view of everyone, in accordance with international acts and sub-clauses of treaties - in a friendly, diplomatic, cultural, very cultural way - to enter several places. How good, how easy it will be then for agreements on the recognition of the DPR, LPR, Transnistria, the reunification of Ossetia, and our other constructive proposals; as soon as the Nord Stream 2, 3, 4 starts to foam, come in and don’t leave anymore. A great tourist power,” Prilepin wrote.
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