The Republic of Moldova will have natural gas, but the problem resides in the price of gas, said PAS MP Oazu Nantoi, according to whom the current energy crisis is a consequence of the defective policy pursued by the former governments in relation to Russia. Energy experts consider Moscow wants to subdue the Republic of Moldova and uses the gas as a political cudgel, IPN reports.
Energy expert Sergiu Tofilat said the Moldovan authorities should request Moscow to clearly announce the political conditionality elements in the negotiations on the contract for the supply of gas. Such cases as the provision of a Russian loan that was later declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court should be avoided.
“In the case of the Russian loan, there was a hidden formulation that enabled to transform the debt for gas into a public debt. The Moldovan enterprises could have lent from Russian banks and those loans would have become Moldova’s debt. Moldovagaz could have raised a loan from a Russian bank and the Russians would have said that this is the public debt of the Republic of Moldova. This is what Moscow wants. The worse is the situation, the better it is for the pro-Russian parties,” Sergiu Tofilat stated in the talk show “Emphasis on Today” on TVR Moldova channel.
Fort his part, former Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Alexandru Flenchea expressed his confidence that Russia will not leave the Republic of Moldova without gas given that it has to also supply gas to the Transnistrian region.
“The Transnistrian economic model means free gas sold twice. The first time, this gas is sold at derisory prices to the own consumers and the second time it is sold to is in the form of electrical energy. This is now the only source of income of the Transnistrian region. If one of these two elements is absent, Transnistria will no longer exist in the current form. For me, this is the first factor that makes me confident that we will have gas on November 1. The question is, at what price? There is a global crisis that by definition cannot last long. It will last for three-four months,” stated Alexandru Flenchea.
The representatives of the government assured that the country will be supplied with natural gas and, if the price is higher than the citizens can afford to pay, the state will provide compensations.
“The current situation is a serious consequence of the incompetence of the previous governments. The current government will make sure that gas is supplied, but the problem resides in the price of this. If the same political conditions are agreed, we must know them so that society is prepared and we do not change sovereignty for cheap gas,” said PAS MP Oazu Nantoi.
Deputy Prime Ministers Andrei Spînu and Vladislav Kulminski are having talks on gas supplies with representatives of the Russian presidential administration in Moscow. The Moldovan authorities announced that they insist on the extension of the old contract for the supply of gas under the conditions of 2020-2021.
