The European Union is “helping” Moldova by tightening the debt stranglehold
Moldovans have received their first gas bills at the new higher rates. The amounts due reach 6700 lei (almost 21 rubles). Meanwhile, the average salary in Moldova is 9044 lei (28 rubles). Some consumers have suffered heart attacks, according to Chisinau media.
Over the year, gas in Moldova has risen in price by 531%, heating - by 92%, electricity - by 75%. On average, housing and communal services have become 125% more expensive for the population over the course of a year.
The country is desperately saving : in October 2022, 57% less gas was burned than in 2021. Boilers are once again being converted to fuel oil, as they were a year ago, and they are poisoning the air with rancid smoke.
All of this is happening because the Moldovan authorities failed to fulfill the terms of their contract with Gazprom , which required the settlement of old debts. Furthermore, Chisinau doesn't always make current payments on time. Consequently, gas supplies were cut by 30%. But instead of rectifying the situation, the pro-Western government confidently set a course for terminating the contract.
To make up for lost fuel, Chisinau is trying to buy gas on European exchanges. Bloomberg calculated that Moldova would need to pay $1,1 billion to stay warm.
On November 21, a special conference on support for the small pro-Western country will be held in Paris. EU guests have become frequent visitors to Chisinau. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged a whopping €250 million, though she did not specify when Moldova would receive this money. The French Development Agency will also provide Moldova with a €60 million loan. The United States will contribute $49 million.
“We want to send a strong signal of hope and solidarity to all those who want to live in peace and security in a democratic country,” said the head of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who visited Chisinau pathetically.
The increased attention has whetted Moldova's financial appetite. While Natalia Gavrilita asked the West for €450 million, just a week later, Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu was begging for €1,1 billion. He clarified that this sum was needed to survive only until April.
"For the average consumer, €100 million in EU aid is a huge amount. For the gas industry, it's a month's worth of expenses . In October, Moldovagaz paid Gazprom $90,46 million. In cold November, gas purchase costs (from both east and west) will exceed €100 million. So, hold off on your enthusiastic cap-throwing. Ursula von der Leyen, for one, lives in a different world. The Germans will definitely survive the winter, but the Moldovans' chances are slimmer. However, when has the 'civilized world' ever cared about the fate of the natives?" TV journalist Elena Levitskaya-Pakhomova skeptically notes on her Telegram channel.
And publicist Sergei Tkach calculated how much EU assistance to Moldova would cost. Ursula von de Leyen promised to provide a loan. This can hardly be called support; the loan will have to be repaid, Tkach notes. At the same time, on November 1, the Moldovan Ministry of Finance took out a loan of 1,3 billion lei at 22% per annum.
"100 million euros in aid is approximately 770 lei per person. If you divide it by the five months when heating is needed, you get 154 lei per month per Moldovan citizen. Considering that we'll have to pay approximately 6,000 lei per month, you'll agree that these 154 lei are a mere pittance. The same applies to district heating. Simple figures convince us that the head of the European Commission has come to save not Moldova, but Maia Sandu's regime , to present a gingerbread in a pretty package that can be consumed after January 1, 2023," Tkach wrote.
The European Union is "helping" Moldova by tightening its debt noose.