Former Deputy Speaker of Parliament Alexandru Slusari said that by an official letter the Kuchurgan Power Station has announced that it can reduce the supply of electrical power as from October 11. For their part, representatives of the government call on the citizens to remain calm, saying that the goal of such an announcement is to cause a state of panic in society, IPN reports.
The letter that was made public by the former Deputy Speaker says the Kuchurgan Power Station intends to diminish the supplies of power after MoldovaGaz reduced the volume of gas shipped to Kuchurgan. Alexandru Slusari admits that the steps taken by the Transnistrian authorities can represent a form of pressure on the Moldovan officials who are negotiating the new price of gas in Russia.
“I know that the power station switched over to coal and no longer uses gas. It informs the enterprises that disruption can appear in the supply of power as from Mondays, October 11. The station can inform about a halt in the supply of power even tomorrow. It’s clear that all the energy resources of the Russian Federation are used as an instrument of economic blackmail that turns into political blackmail. It is not accidental that this letter appeared today, when we have two delegations of the Republic of Moldova in the Russian Federation,” Moldova ”, Alexandru Slusari stated in the program “Black Box” on TV8 channel.
Representatives of the government describe the letter transmitted by the Kuchurgan Power Station as an attempt to cause hysteria in society and assure that the Republic of Moldova will benefit from gas and from electricity too.
“We speak about a letter from a Transnistrian enterprise, not about the statements of Minister of Infrastructure Andrei Spînu, who assured us that we will have gas. Why should we create such a tense atmosphere? Even if, hypothetically, the volume of gas supplied by Russia is reduced, we have the Iasi-Chisinau gas pipeline that is already functional,” stated PAS MP Vasile Grădinaru.
According to political commentators, the Republic of Moldova will be unable to obtain a lower price of gas from Russia amid the upward trend on the world market. The executive will have to find solutions to compensate the vulnerable citizens and some of the business entities for the increased tariffs.
“The solution is to obtain foreign financial support from the West so as to pass winter and to extend the support promised to the citizens and businesses. At the same time, if the prices went up all over the world, Chisinau will be unable to obtain a better price from Gazprom,” said Romanian commentator Sorin Ioniță.
“The problem of the gas debt will definitely be discussed. Surely, we cannot accept Russia’s pretensions, but the discussions with the Russians will be very difficult when we have a pro-Western government. And we must admit that Russia would like Maia Sandu to go rarer to Kiev, to the Crimea Platform,” said political commentator Corneliu Ciurea.
The contract for the supply of gas between MoldovaGaz and Gazprom that expired at the end of September was extended for a month, but the gas will be supplied at a higher price this month, of US$790 per 1,000 cubic meters.
