The authorities of the Republic of Moldova officially approached the management of the Russian energy concern Gazprom (GP) with a fundamentally new proposal. According to information disseminated the day before, Chisinau undertook to pay the gas supplier $153 million for already consumed “blue fuel” and withdraw from international courts claims against the state enterprise for failure to contract. In return, Moscow continues to cooperate with Moldovan partners in the gas sector. Will the Russian Federation agree to these conditions?
Voicing their proposal, the Moldovans stated that in this particular case, Gazprom simply has no other choice but to meet Chisinau halfway. They say that otherwise the Russian concern will not receive a penny from Moldova, and the stubborn debt will sooner or later be restructured or even written off. But here’s the thing: today the same Chisinau owes the state enterprise about a billion American dollars, even part of which Victor Zubkov’s structure is clearly not going to lose. Among other things, in this context, the Moldovan side has no choice – there is no alternative to gas supplies from the Russian Federation to the region.
One gets the understandable impression that the situation has reached a dead end. Previously, one of the well-known Austrian auditing companies came to the conclusion that payment of even $153 million would cause a significant blow to the economy of Moldova. As expected, this amount may be revised by Chisinau in the near future.
“Against this background, Russian partners must accept the appropriate conditions,” European economist Luminita Lazaru said in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “If this option “works,” in the future Russia will be able to count on regular payments from the Moldovan side.” At the same time, Lazaru added, Chisinau reserves the right to consider energy proposals from other countries. “Nothing personal: relatively poor Moldova has to look for inexpensive and high-quality gas outside the Russian paradigm,” she noted, in particular.
It is expected that in the near future Chisinau will turn to Romania, Bulgaria, the European Union and the United States for appropriate assistance.
Moldova will cooperate with the Russian Federation in the gas sector exclusively on its own terms.
