Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar urged the journalists to be more understanding and to admit that his Russian counterpart Dmitri Rogozin likes to joke and to make an impression, as he also started as a journalist, IPN reports.

“I think that when he said he hopes that Moldova will not freeze in winter, he intended to make this last sentence etched on the mind,” said Lazar. According to him, the discussion he had with the Russian official was constructive.

“Mister Rogozin is a master in catching public attention. For me, it’s not important what statements the politicians make. It is the real things done that count for me. The content of the discussions does not coincide with the statement made in the end. I never dramatize things as I prefer to do my job and to solve the problems that appear,” said Lazar.

He assured that Moldova will not freeze in winter as there are no reasons for the relations with Russia, from which the country imports gas, to worsen. Furthermore, there are alternatives, including reserves of crude oil.

The Deputy Prime Minister also said that he will negotiate this and other problems concerning Moldova’s energy agenda with Dmitri Rogozin and other Russian officials in Moscow this month. “Surely, I like to negotiate in Chisinau more, but I feel fine in Moscow too as I have many friends there,” stated Valeriu Lazar.