Gazprom rapes the Republic of Moldova. Gases, double that of Romania
The bills of the inhabitants of the Republic of Moldova will increase by 37%, after the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) accepted, on Friday, the request of Moldovagaz, Gazprom subsidiary, to increase the price of one cubic meter of gas from 11.08 lei to 15 ., 58 Moldovan lei.
In a recent report on state television in Moldova, journalists spoke to a woman who stated that she lives alone with her husband in an apartment with an area of 50 square meters, and the bill reached about 1,700 . of Moldovan lei approximately 425 Romanian lei, given that she has a pension of 2,000 Moldovan lei, about 500 RON.
The price of 15.58 Moldovan lei for a cubic meter of gas would mean about 4 Romanian lei. A cubic meter of gas in Romania ends up costing somewhere between 2 lei and 2.5 Romanian lei. It means that the increase in the Republic of Moldova will make the price almost double the tariffs in Romania, an EU member state and where the standard of living is significantly higher than the second Romanian state.
With this increase in gas facts, experts also anticipate a chain increase in prices in all sectors of the state economy across the Prut.
On the other hand, Natalia Gavriliță’s government has promised to pay new compensations to the citizens, although a new increase in gas prices will generate more expensive goods, services, fuels and electricity.
Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița announced publicly on Wednesday that the tariff for a consumption of up to 150 cubic meters per month for household consumers will remain unchanged.
In his turn, the director of Moldovagaz, Vadim Ceban, declared on Thursday that in the next period a reduction of the import price is estimated, but this will not lead to the decrease of the tariff, maybe the company registered losses of over 2.6 billion lei . due to the tariff difference, which must be recovered.
Moldova paid Gazprom $ 646 per cubic meter of gas in January, nearly $ 200 more than in November and $ 100 more than in December, he said. economedia.ro.
The government promises that the new increase, after the one in November, will not affect the citizens who consume less gas. Thus, the first 150 cubic meters of gas per month will be paid at the current rate – ie 6.8 Moldovan lei for the first 50 meters and 7.9 lei for the next 100 cubic meters. The rest of the consumption will be paid by the citizens at the increased price and approved by ANRE.
Earlier this week, Gazprom sent a letter to Chisinau stating that it did not agree with the audit of its subsidiary, Moldovagaz, although the protocol to extend the agreement signed on October 29, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Russia, provides for this.
Gazprom puts the Republic of Moldova in a particularly difficult situation, refusing any postponement of gas payments.
In fact, Gazprom does not grant any deferred payment of the bill to its subsidiary Moldovagaz and threatens to shut down the gas within 48 hours in the middle of winter for the Republic of Moldova, if they do not pay their deeds.
The situation is all the more disastrous for the Republic of Moldova, as Gazprom, through its subsidiary Moldovagaz, has demanded the advance payment of the facts for the gas delivered for this state.
Thus, 10 days ago, the Parliament in Chisinau decided to establish a state of energy emergency for 60 days, the press reports from the Republic of Moldova, according to antena3.ro.
The decision was made at the request of the government.
58 deputies voted “for” and three others opposed.
The establishment of the state of emergency for a period of 60 days comes after the Russian company Gazprom announced that it will stop, from January 21, the delivery of natural gas to the Republic of Moldova, if the current consumption will not be paid in full until January 20.
MoldovaGaz needs another $ 25 million to pay in advance for the natural gas delivered by Gazprom to the Republic of Moldova for January, from an initial bill of $ 63 million, which also covers December.
However, the Moldovan company does not have this money, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spanu.
Spanu said that “MoldovaGaz could not find a common language with Gazprom to postpone these payments, nor did it find credit opportunities to pay for this difference.”
During the state of emergency, the National Commission for Exceptional Situations, which will acquire additional prerogatives, will have the right to order the rationalization of gas consumption and other energy resources.
The Commission will also be able to put in place rapid measures to collect consumer payments, decide on a special fast gas procurement regime and allocate the necessary financial resources.
In October 2021, MoldovaGaz and Gazprom extended the natural gas supply agreement for five years.
Gazprom, Russia’s gas supplier to all of Europe, is pushing Moldova to the brink of financial collapse without a right of appeal.
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