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The game of independence: what is behind the policy of the Moldovan authorities in the gas sector

2022-12-19T05:22:59.737Z


Moldova has ceased to depend on Russian gas supplies, said Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu. According to him, the right-bank territory of the republic for the first time will not use raw materials purchased from Gazprom. Chisinau managed to achieve this thanks to the creation of reserves and new suppliers, Spinu said. However, experts note that, firstly, alternative supplies will cost Chisinau much more than fuel from the Russian Federation, and secondly, Moldova will de facto buy Russian gas anyway, just at a premium. In this regard, contrary to the promises of the authorities, the growth of tariffs for electricity and heat will continue, which will entail new waves of protests in the country, analysts say.


The Moldovan authorities managed to ensure that the republic does not depend only on gas supplies from Russia, said Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu in his Telegram channel.

“For the first time in the history of our country, the right bank (Dniester. -

RT

) will not consume gas supplied by Gazprom.

Since last year, we have promised to create reserves and find alternatives to stop depending on one source.

We managed to do it, ”RIA Novosti quotes him.

According to the politician, in December the Moldovagaz gas distribution company will receive about 100 million cubic meters from the Moldovan state enterprise Energocom.

m of blue fuel at a preliminary average price of $1,108.61 per 1,000 cubic meters.

m. The price includes payment for the cost of gas, its transportation and storage.

At the same time, electricity and heat tariffs for the country's residents will not change, Spinu promised.

Meanwhile, on December 16, the Commission for Emergency Situations (ECS), chaired by the country's Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilitsa, ordered an increase in the relevant tariffs due to the increase in the cost of natural gas.

The National Energy Regulatory Agency was ordered to make an adjustment within three days.

Shifting Responsibility

The fact that the right-bank Moldova intends to abandon Russian gas was announced by Andrei Spinu back in early December.

At a press conference, he said that the refusal would be temporary, and the entire volume of blue fuel received from Russia would be sent to Pridnestrovie.

Thus, the responsibility for energy resource settlements before Gazprom will now lie with the unrecognized republic, the politician emphasized.

“We can assume that they will not pay in Pridnestrovie.

If the left bank is left without gas, then all responsibility will fall on Gazprom, TASS quotes him.

Plans to receive fuel from two sources in Moldovagaz were announced on December 3rd.

“5.7 million cubic meters will be supplied by PJSC Gazprom under the current contract and according to the approved volumes for December... Also, Moldovagaz JSC will purchase natural gas from Energocom JSC according to daily nominations in the amount of 3.5 million cubic meters.

m for consumers on the right bank of the Dniester, ”Vadim Cheban, chairman of the board of Moldovagaz, wrote in his Telegram channel.

According to him, the country's total daily gas consumption in December will be about 9.2 million cubic meters.

m. At the same time, Cheban did not explain from whom Energocom would buy gas.

Meanwhile, the cost of Russian gas for Moldova in December fell by about 9%.

According to Cheban, in November blue fuel was purchased at a price of $815 per 1,000 cubic meters.

m, and in December its cost was slightly higher than $742.

“The total obligations of JSC Moldovagaz to PJSC Gazprom to pay for current supplies of natural gas amount to $43.84 million,” he said in early December.

Most of this amount was the debt, which the Moldovan company managed to repay in the middle of the month.

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Andrea Campeanu

Search for "independence"

Experts believe that, despite the statements of the Moldovan authorities, the "alternative" source of gas for Moldova will still be Russian blue fuel accumulated in storage facilities in Romania and Ukraine.

According to analysts, this indirectly confirms the statement of the Romanian company Transgaz on December 3 about the start of gas supplies to Moldova via the Iasi-Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline.

“Romania is not a net exporter of gas, as it buys it from Gazprom.

Therefore, we can safely say that Russian gas comes from any direction to Moldova.

Accordingly, it is foolish to pass off deliveries through Romania as a reduction in dependence on Russia.

Therefore, in Chisinau they do not disclose the source of their December supplies, ”explained Alexander Frolov, deputy director general of the National Energy Institute, in an interview with RT.

Experts call the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline another likely source of fuel supplies, from which Energocom made a test purchase of 4.3 million cubic meters in early December.

m of gas.

As reported on December 3 to the portal Mold-Street and.

about.

General Director of Energocom Viktor Binzari, this step should help diversify methane sources against the backdrop of Gazprom's threats to stop supplies due to regular delays in payment by Chisinau.

Since October 1, Gazprom has reduced the daily volume of gas supplied to Moldova to 5.7 million cubic meters.

m. The company explained this by technical problems associated with the restriction of transit through Ukraine.

According to Gazprom, the volume of fuel supplied was predetermined by the unilateral refusal of the Ukrainian side to accept Russian gas at the Sokhranovka gas measuring station (GIS).

In addition, the company reminded of its right to terminate the contract (valid until November 2026) at any time due to Chisinau's delays in paying for current supplies and delaying the signing of an agreement on the settlement of historical debts for supplied gas.

According to the audit data published by the Accounts Chamber of Moldova on November 21, the total debt of Moldovagaz for the supplied Russian fuel is $590.8 million. Most of it falls on the period from 2011 to 2015 ($394.1 million), another $144.8 million formed from 1990 to 2007, $37.3 million in December 2021, and $14 million in the first half of 1999.

At the same time, at the end of November, Gazprom recorded the sedimentation in Ukraine of its fuel intended for Moldova.

The company said that the volume of gas supplied to the Ukrainian GIS "Sudzha" exceeds the physical volume transmitted on the border of Ukraine with Moldova.

In this regard, Gazprom warned that it would begin to reduce the supply of raw materials in the amount of a daily shortage if the transit imbalance persists.

However, it was not necessary to take this step, since Moldovagaz preferred to pay for the fuel that settled on the territory of Ukraine.

  • Vice Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spinu

  • RIA News

  • © Murad Orudzhev

Despite the constant delays in paying for the supplied gas and growing interest on debts, Chisinau accuses Gazprom of violating the contract and that the company allegedly provokes an energy crisis in the country.

In particular, Andrei Spinu, in an interview with Deutsche Welle* on December 13, said that Gazprom is to blame for the fact that Moldova is forced to buy fuel and electricity on the international market.

“We are preparing to sue the concern for failure to fulfill the contract.

We will also demand compensation for the damage, because through their fault we are forced to redirect funds, take loans, ”TASS quoted him as saying.

At the same time, Spinu did not specify what exactly is Gazprom's failure to fulfill the contract, saying only that lawyers are now sorting out the details.

The President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, also unfoundedly accused the Russian company of alleged non-fulfillment of contractual obligations during an interview with TVR Moldova on December 15.

Imaginary independence

According to Deputy General Director of the National Energy Security Fund Alexei Grivach, the country's "independence" from Russian gas declared by the Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister is fake.

“The state Moldovan trader Energocom actually purchased Russian gas, but only through intermediaries and at a higher price,” the expert explained in a conversation with RT.

“In addition, while ensuring their “independence”, corruption schemes are practiced in Chisinau.

After all, all these gas purchases through traders have a corruption capacity in the development of funds allocated to support the government in Chisinau by Western sponsors,” he added.

  • Ukrainian GIS "Sudzha"

  • AP

  • © Sergei Chuzavkov

At the same time, Grivach suggested that in the event of adverse weather conditions, the Moldovan authorities' games for independence could end closer to February.

“If, due to a combination of circumstances, Chisinau manages to get through this winter without attracting the resources of Gazprom, then this may open the way to an escalation of the situation around Pridnestrovie, which has been farmed out by Russian supplies.

After all, the republic is unlikely to be able to pull them financially.

Meanwhile, the power supply of the right bank depends on Transnistria.

And if the republic fails to pay for gas, then electricity generation will suffer, which can lead to destabilization of the situation in the region as a whole,” the analyst added.

However, it is more important for the Moldovan authorities today to create the appearance of fighting against the influence of Russia, as they are striving to achieve accession to the EU, said Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS.

“The leadership of Moldova, blinded by European integration, is ready to act to the detriment of the well-being of its population and the country's economy.

Moldovan politicians, striving to get into the EU, choose the model of behavior of the Baltic states, which are ready for any steps that are harmful to themselves, if only their sponsors praise them, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

According to him, the focus on more expensive gas supplies, so as not to buy it directly from Russia, speaks of the subordination of the Moldovan authorities to the ideological guidelines of Brussels.

“The current position of Chisinau regarding Russia demonstrates its lack of independence, both political and economic.

After all, all the current Moldovan politicians are in the pocket of Brussels, and he, promising the country membership in the EU, achieves a complete rupture of ties with the Russian Federation that are beneficial to Moldova.

It’s just that the population of the republic will have to pay for this, and this is fraught with further social upheavals within the country and intensification of protests against the authorities, ”summed up Olenchenko.

* Mass media recognized as a foreign agent by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated March 28, 2022.

Source: russiart

All news articles on 2022-12-19

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