Experts Sergiu Tofilat and Ruslan Surugiu said the signing of the contract with ZAO “Moldavskaya GRAS”, for the supply of electrical energy to the Republic of Moldova, represents continuation of the financing of the separatist Transnistrian regime and of accumulation of debts for gas, which now total US$6.5 billion. The experts consider that by supporting the signing of this contract in secret, through the Ministry of Economy, the Moldovan authorities are promoting the interests of the Russian Federation. These addressed a public letter, including to the law enforcement bodies, whereby they ask the Ministry of Economy to explain the necessity of signing the contract for the purchase of power with ZAO “Moldavskaya GRAS” after signing a similar contract with the Ukrainian company and to make public the documents showing that the latter cannot fully supply the quantities of power requested by “Energocom”.
In a news conference at IPN, Sergiu Tofilat said the state signs contracts in secret as the people are informed about this after the contracts are signed. The authorities say cheaper electric power is purchased, but do not say that by buying power from ZAO “Moldavskaya GRAS”, larger debts for gas are accumulated and the state pays the price of gas from which electrical energy is produced and this money reaches directly the so-called Transnistrian budget.
The experts said the recommendation to exclude the power supplies that do not pay for raw material, formulated by the Secretariat of the Energy Community, is violated. In this case, “Moldavskaya GRAS” does not pay for gas. Sergiu Tofilat noted currently Moldova imports power only from Ukraine’s DTEK “Traiding” and there is no official confirmation that this company will stop supplying power. The signing of the contract with “Moldavskaya GRAS” is clearly in favor of the Russian Federation, which aims to maintain the Transnistrian conflict and to thus keep Moldova in its sphere of influence. It is not clear whose interests are promoted by the Democratic Party, which represents the government.
The experts’ letter is addressed to the Ministry of Economy, the Security and Intelligence Service, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Supreme Security Council and the parliamentary commission on national security, defense and public order. The experts said that if these institutions take no measures, it will be evident that they are accomplices to this illegally.
Expert Ruslan Surugiu said that by signing this contract, they returned to the scheme by which the people are robbed. The contract with “Moldavskaya GRAS” will perpetuate the accumulation of debts that will be made the people’s burden. Authorities’ arguments about the signing of this contract are not real. Instead of creating conditions for a competitive market with clear and nondiscriminatory rules for energy interconnection projects, the authorities resort to such actions. The image of the energy sector risks worsening and will become similar to that of the financial-banking sector. This will scare any investor. The effects of such steps will be seen in the near future, when the people will not enjoy an open and competitive market.
On June 6, “Energocom” announced that it signed a contract for the supply of electric power to Moldova with ZAO “Moldavskaya GRAS” on June 5. This is valid until March 31, 2018, as the contract signed with DTEK “Traiding” at the end of March is.
