There are political reasons for why the energy crisis isn’t stopping, thinks political pundit Vlad Țurcanu. “A special tactic is needed from the European countries that rely on the Russian gas, including Moldova, so that we see ourselves past this winter”, Țurcanu stated during a public debate organized by IPN.
The pundit says that Gazprom doesn’t operate with just business in mind. “The Russian Federation is using this monopoly to achieve political goals, which transcend commercial issues. Gazprom is giving up some of the profits it could make in the coming months in order to gain an even better hand for Russia in its relationship with Europe. For example, (Russia wants the) German regulator or the EU authorities to let it have its way and use the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline at its full transportation capacity, which is not possible under the current European legislation. It isn’t certain that the Russian Federation will succeed in this, because even if the German regulator accepted it, lawsuits would immediately ensue from Poland, for example, which could appeal the German regulator’s decision at European level”, said Vlad Țurcanu.
According to him, another goal pursued by Russia is to affect the processes related to green, renewable energy that have started across the EU. “In order for Europe to receive gas, it should reach an agreement with the Russian Federation on stopping these processes or postponing them for an indefinite period. The Russian Federation is playing hard because it would gain more from the concessions it wants from its European partners than Gazprom would gain in financial terms. The tens of billions of dollars that Gazprom would get from this situation, which is advantageous to the Russian producer, would still be smaller than the political gains that President Putin wants to have”, considers Vlad Turcanu.
“This crisis has left us partially exposed, because we do not have a valid contract with the Russian Federation. And here the question pops up: What did the governments loyal to the Russian Federation do in the years they were in control of both the government and presidency? Why did they not initiate talks to reach a convenient agreement with the Russian Federation? But this time around, in the current conditions, there are also some advantages. One of our advantages is the gas pipeline coming from Romania, which was built with great difficulty. We have been caught up in this crisis with this gas pipeline in operation and now Deputy Minister Spinu has the opportunity to discuss with our Western partners, even if the prices – obviously, given the current spot prices in Europe – will not be low. But we will not run out of gas, that much is clear. There is also this component of negotiations, which concerns Transnistria. If we are able to reach a deal with the West, it remains unclear how Transnistria will receive gas”, said Vlad Țurcanu.
“There are a lot of exaggerated things in our infospace. They exploit the fact that we do not control our audiovisual space, and a state of panic is being artificially induced, as has always been the practice here. This is an occasion for the current government to look at Moldova’s infospace so as to understand why it is being used to the detriment of our citizens and to the detriment of the climate. You will not find too many states, even in Europe, that show so much negligence for this so important aspect”, said Vlad Țurcanu.
“We should also not overlook those who are now teaching the current government how to negotiate with the Russian Federation, how to reach the Gazprom head Alexei Miller using the backdoor. The perspective of some politicians dates back to the Paleozoic era, where personal relationships or personal agreements can save the day, rather than understanding that each state has its own interests and it is best to discuss such things in plain sight. Why do our authorities leave so many things uncommunicated to us? Indeed, it takes a great deal of delicacy not to ruin the talks that have been initiated, or halted, we don’t really know. All we care is the finality, so that in the end we will have enough natural gas to get past the winter and only then should we get to the main point, which is how we should build our energy sector so that we aren’t taken by surprise when similar crises occur in the future”, stated Vlad Țurcanu.
The public debate entitled “What is the government’s optimism about energy crisis based on?” was organized by IPN News Agency in the framework of the project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
