Last week, the Moldovan government introduced a state of emergency in this small impoverished post-Soviet state for 30 days due to a gas shortage in the country.
Before that, a Moldovan delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Kulminsky went to Moscow for Gazprom.
The Moldovans have failed the negotiations.
Typically, gas issues in Moscow were visited by presidents, or at worst - by the speaker of parliament or the head of government.
Such a downgrade of status today is not so much from disrespect for Gazprom, as from the reasons understandable in Chisinau to arrange a crisis out of the blue.
The fact is that the 2008 long-term contract with a fixed price of ± € 150 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas ended exactly at the end of September 2021, and, of course, the Moldovan side was repeatedly reminded throughout the year that it would be nice to talk about renegotiating a new one or prolongation of the old agreement.
As it was three years ago, in 2018, when the ten-year contract, signed when President Voronin was still President, was extended to President Dodon, however, only for three years.
As they looked into the water.
And Dodon lost all the elections, and the price of natural gas increased several times.
So, until the end of September in Chisinau, no one itched about a new contract with a Russian supplier, there were more important things to do.
Either early elections, where President Maia Sandu and her friend US Ambassador Derek Hogan finally secured a pro-Western majority in parliament, then the "Crimean Platform" with neighbors in Kiev (a Sabbath of third-rate politicians from Russophobic countries, where Maya Grigorievna definitely had to go), then a vendetta against Attorney General Stoyanoglo, who refused to swear allegiance to Maya and the American flag in person.
In general, there are many important things to do, not up to the gas negotiations.
And then September ended. For October, by telephone, they asked for a monthly supply in Moscow at the current market price. Only $ 790 per 1,000 cubic meters. And during this month we agreed to agree on a new contract. Here is another important point: during the term of the contract, the Moldovans managed to underpay Gazprom $ 433 million plus penalties, of course. To issue a new contract, you need to close the old one. And there is no money in the Moldovan treasury for this. And no one gives a loan for this. An attempt to blackmail a Russian exporter into neighboring Transnistria, where more than 200 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation live, the OGRV and Russian peacekeepers are deployed, this time failed. By the way, apparently, after that, Kulminsky, who was responsible for Transnistria, was sent to Moscow for negotiations. Well, the gypsies, of course, have their own logic, but they cannot even change the laws of physics.
The down pipe goes just through Ukraine and in the Odessa region passes into the territory of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR).
Further on to Moldova.
The PMR has its own operator for pumping and consuming Russian gas, Tiraspolgaz, which has not only direct relations with Gazprom, but also owns 13% of the shares of Moldovagaz, a Moldovan operator.
That is, with the insistence of the EU and Washington not to stop pumping Russian gas through the Ukrainian GTS, the pressure in the southern pipe will obviously not fall below today's indicators, and everything will be all right with the Transnistrian consumers.
It is worth noting here that the Moldovan figures are already calculating how much they owe Gazprom in Tiraspol, and, they say, this is “much more than they have been working on recently.”
But here it is important to note that PJSC Gazprom is a business structure, and their main task is to sell fuel, make profits and pay taxes to the budget. How the arrears in the Transnistrian sector are covered is not a Moldovan matter at all, and, obviously, if there is no claim, therefore, it is covered. But Moldovans, represented by Moldovagaz, underpaid the Russian supplier $ 433 million, with $ 394 million in 2011-2015, this is exactly when the communist Voronin was overthrown in Moldova and a protracted turmoil began, Filat's scams, Laundromat and the theft of a billion from the country's budget ... The rest of the trifles has accumulated already in 2020-2021 around endless elections. The last straw that overflowed the cup of Gazprom's patience was the attempt by the new Moldovan government to liquidate Moldovagaz along with its debts. The Russian supplier can be understood.How long can you tolerate this gypsy?
“There is no politics here, Gazprom is a joint stock company and cannot operate at a loss, cannot afford to lose tax payments to the RF budget.
There are limits to patience.
Moldova itself is provoking a crisis with its own hands, ”said Sergei Kupriyanov, a representative of Gazprom PJSC.
Incidentally, Romania also receives Russian gas via South Stream, although it itself produces blue fuel.
A month ago, Romanian gas operators launched a new pipeline route to Moldova through Ungheni, and it is possible that this route was counted on by the government of Gavrilitsa, in no hurry to conclude a contract with a Russian supplier.
However, in Bucharest they made it clear to the Moldovan neighbors that they are not going to quarrel with Gazprom over the Moldovans and are ready, of course, to pump in certain volumes through a new pipe, but only after agreement with the Russian exporter.
As a result, at the talks in Moscow, the Moldovans were offered a long-term contract, a fair market price with a 25% discount (!), But subject to debt repayment.
The proud descendants of Budulai refused, insisting on a price twice lower than the market price, motivating their demand with the lack of money.
Such is the Moldavian chutzpah.
Gazprom has officially announced the possible termination of supplies to Moldova from December 1.
At the same time, the European-oriented Moldovan nationalists from among those who received the parliamentary mandate at the early parliamentary elections this summer directly declare the policy of "energy blackmail" on the part of Moscow.
They actively urge Ukraine to take part in the energy and economic blockade of Transnistria.
Most likely, this is impossible, although there are also plenty of people who want to freeze their ears in Ukraine.
For example, the Dnestrovskaya GRES from Transnistria supplies half of the Odessa region and the entire south of Moldova through power flows.
The main shareholder of this largest generation in the region is the Russian company Inter RAO.
You can, of course, stop the generation, but after that it is not easy and not fast to start.
That is, the purpose of this man-made energy crisis in Moldova is an attempt at another pressure from Chisinau on the pro-Russian Transnistria?
Or gas will be supplied two times cheaper than on the market, most of it can be resold to Romanians and Ukrainians at exorbitant prices.
Such is the gypsy happiness.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.