Moldova’s gas crisis was a warning to Europe of the risks of being too dependent on Russia’s Gazprom, the chief executive of Poland’s state-controlled gas group PGNiG Pawel Majewski stated for the Financial Times (FT), being quoted by Capital of Bulgaria and IPN.
People briefed on negotiations told the Financial Times that Gazprom had pushed for political concessions from Moldova’s new pro-EU government in exchange for cheaper gas. Gazprom denied this and said that the talks were “exclusively on commercial terms”.
According to Pawel Majewski, the episode should serve as a wake-up call to Europe, which gets 35 per cent of its gas from Gazprom, and warned that Gazprom’s newly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will carry gas from Russia to Germany and is awaiting approval from Berlin to start operating, would make Europe more vulnerable.
“This situation [in Moldova] is symbolic because it shows clearly what Europe, which is putting its gas infrastructure to a large extent in Russian hands, could have to face,” he told the FT. “This is proof of what we have been saying for many months: that unfortunately the interests of the main gas supplier from the east are enforced hard. Gazprom is not a friend of the EU.
As well as the stand-off with Moldova, Gazprom has come under fire for restricting gas supplies to western Europe to only those covered by long-term contracts this year, while draining its storage facilities in the continent to unusually low levels ahead of the winter. Critics contend these moves have exacerbated an energy crisis. Russia denies claim that the Kremlin used gas supplies as a political weapon.
Majewski said Poland had submitted 600 pages of information to Germany’s economy ministry stating its concerns about Nord Stream 2 and was “extremely surprised” that the ministry had reviewed this in fewer than four working days and still given its blessing to the pipeline. He added that PGNiG was prepared to take legal action to protect its interests if needed.
