Moldova (bbabo.net), - The purchase price of gas, which increased by more than $200 in January, has divided the Moldovan political class into two camps. While government officials say that the country's leadership is monitoring trends in the international market and expecting a downward trend in prices, the non-parliamentary opposition is calling on President Maia Sandu and Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spina to travel to the Russian Federation and discuss renegotiating the terms of the contract with Gazprom, notes ipn .md

Political commentators consider the energy crisis faced by the Republic of Moldova to be predictable, given that the Russian Federation uses gas as a geopolitical tool to strengthen its influence in Europe.

“The Russian Federation is playing a tough game, its priority is the commissioning of Nord Stream 2, it wants to secure guarantees for its sphere of influence in Ukraine and feels that now is the right time to do so. The pandemic with its negative consequences, the lack of gas on the European market - the Russian Federation is taking advantage of all this, and the Republic of Moldova has become an unwitting participant in this geopolitical game. Under these conditions, our team did not analyze the situation in the best way and agreed on a contract that was not entirely successful for the Republic of Moldova,” political commentator Ion Tabarta said on the air of the program “Întreabă Ghețu” on TV8.

Former MP Vitalia Pavlichenko also believes that with the help of the energy crisis provoked in Moldova, Moscow “punishes” the Moldovan authorities for their European aspirations.

“When the authorities in the Republic of Moldova were pro-Russian, leftist, concessions were always made for them in terms of prices. Moscow is undoubtedly using the gas price as a geopolitical tool. Of course, we are talking about political conditions, we have the Transnistrian region, there is a desire to prevent the expansion of Romania through the Prut in the sense of uniting with Romania so that we do not join NATO. The gas is used so that the Republic of Moldova does not aspire to the European Union. Let's remember that Ukraine was also warned about the same thing,” ex-deputy Pavlichenko said.

At the same time, representatives of the non-parliamentary opposition are calling on the authorities to discuss the revision of the contract with Gazprom, using both the experience of the previous Moldovan authorities, who managed to agree on a good price for gas, and the experience of European states that concluded lucrative contracts with Russia.

“The price of gas depends on the situation on the international market, but this is just one of the fragments of reality. Nobody talks about the other side of her. The gas price is the subject of the contract, not the will of the Lord, so the authorities should wake up, Sandu and Spinu should go to Moscow and not return from there until they agree on a revision of the contract, especially since there are enough precedents and opportunities. Other heads of state have done it,” said Iurie Muntean, representative of the Civic Congress party.

“The gas crisis has a regional context. This situation puts pressure on citizens, but we are analyzing price trends in the international market. There is a downward trend. This may lead to price reductions. We are considering several scenarios, based on the possible development of the situation, and we will act according to the situation,” said Igor Kiriyak, MP from the PDS.

According to the contract signed with Gazprom, by the 20th day of each month, the Republic of Moldova must pay for the gas consumed in the previous month, as well as pay 50% of the cost of gas consumed in the current month. In case of non-payment within 48 hours, Gazprom has the right to take a decision to stop gas supplies.

bbabo.Net