Gazprom "heartless" with Moldovagaz about gas, Moldova anticipated the incident, made a "smart" move

After Gazprom announced it was cutting off gas supplies to Moldova, the country's prime minister accused the Kremlin of "oppressive tactics" and said he would consider legal options, possibly including international arbitration.

Every year, Russia supplies about 2 billion ^cubic meters of natural gas to Moldova. (Source: TASS)

On December 28, Russia's Gazprom announced that it would stop supplying gas to Moldova from January 1, 2025 due to a debt dispute.

According to Gazprom's announcement, the corporation "will impose a restriction on natural gas supplies to Moldova to 0 ^m3 per day from January 1, 2025." The Russian energy "giant" accused Moldova of not paying its debts.

Every year, Moscow supplies about 2 billion ^cubic meters of natural gas to Chisinau.

The fuel is shipped through Ukraine to Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, which is backed by Russia. There, it is used to generate cheap electricity, which is then sold to parts of the country still controlled by the Moldovan government .

Moldova reacts violently

For decades, Moldova has depended on Russian gas.

Through Moldovagaz, the country imported Russian gas at a price of $80 per 1,000 ^m3 . The price increased to $170 per 1,000 ^m3 in 2007. Since then, the gas debt has been increasing and has now reached $709 million.

Russia's cut-off of gas supplies will shut down Moldova's largest power plant, Kuciurgan.

Energy giant Gazprom said the move was "related to the Moldovan side's refusal to adjust its debts" and that it reserved the right to take further action, including terminating the supply contract.

According to Russian calculations, the debt is 709 million USD, but Moldova only gave the debt as 8.6 million USD.

Following Gazprom's announcement, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean condemned Moscow for using "oppressive tactics" and later accused the Kremlin of using "energy as a political weapon".

The prime minister said Moldova would consider legal options, possibly including international arbitration.

The Moldovan government has set up a committee to manage "imminent risks".

Difficulties remain, but there is still reason to be reassured.

Moldova’s troubles don’t end there. The country will be hit hard when the gas transit deal between Russia and Ukraine ends on January 1, 2025.

Gazprom's move is a precursor to a complete halt in Russian gas exports to Europe through a transit agreement with Kiev.

Despite Russia launching a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, gas continues to flow from Moscow to EU countries, earning Kiev millions of dollars in transit fees. The Russia-Ukraine gas transit contract is the last commercial contract between the two conflicting countries.

However, Kiev has now refused to extend the deal with Moscow.

Russian gas flows through Ukraine to Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and Italy. Meanwhile, gas from Russia reaches Moldova via separate pipelines running through Ukraine.

When the special military operation began, Moldova's 2.5 million people were completely dependent on Moscow for natural gas.

The separatist government of Transnistria and the Moldovan government agreed in 2022 that all Russian gas Moldova receives will go to the separatist region. Transnistria typically does not have to pay Moscow for fuel.

Without Russian gas transiting through Ukraine, the power plant in Transnistria could shut down, leaving the breakaway region and Moldova at risk of prolonged power outages.

In fact, Moldova has been preparing for this scenario ever since Ukraine announced that it would not renew its gas transit contract with Gazprom. It and the breakaway region of Transnistria declared a state of emergency in the face of the threat of losing energy supplies from Russia.

On December 27, Chisinau announced that it would limit electricity exports and introduce measures to reduce energy consumption by at least a third from January 1 next year.

Not only that, the country has begun to diversify its gas imports from Romania, using storage capacity in Ukraine and Romania.

Moldovagaz's interim CEO Vadim Ceban has reassured the public and affirmed that gas supplies from Europe will provide enough gas for the country until March 2025.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/gazprom-tuyet-tinh-voi-moldovagaz-ve-khi-dot-moldova-da-luong-truoc-su-viec-co-nuoc-di-cao-tay-299169.html