In autumn we will start paying more for the Russian gas. According to preliminary estimates, the price could double. “I don’t want to scare anyone with the price increases, but it will be a correction,” Vadim Ceban, head of Moldovagaz, told reporters. According to Ceban, the increase in gas prices is a general trend throughout Europe and has nothing to do with the political changes in Chișinău. At the same time, former Prime Minister Ion Sturza claims that, unfortunately, energy prices are a political issue, a topic that will become a first stepping stone for the future government.

Ion Preașcă, economic expert

The rise in prices is imminent and is more the result of rising prices for all energy resources in the world. There were years when We paid 450 US dollars for a thousand cubic meters and we survived. There will be nothing dramatic even now. We want market economic relations, if Europe is paying 450 US dollars now for a thousand cubic meters of gas, why should Moldova pay 2-3 times cheaper?

Natalia Hadârcă, journalist

Russia is making gas more expensive. Does it look new? Since the beginning, Russia has always used every opportunity to dictate its hegemonic interests in the world, either directly or through regimes administered by it. This is also the case of the separatist regime in Breakaway Transnistria, but also of the puppet governments in Chișinău, subordinated to Russia’s interests in the region. The price of gas, if it becomes more expensive, will, of course, be a political one, first of all. Russia will pocket us because we chose something else and we did not vote in the elections with Dodon and Voronin. In fact, do you know what is the problem? That Moldova does not yet have an alternative for Russian gas. For many years, the EU has been asking Moldova’s leaders to diversify their energy sources, and these governments are feeding on dubious and thieving business with Russia. In the end, the consumer pays for all the stupidity and cowardice of the governments.

Tudor Botin, plastic artist

First of all, it is a political price. And then, economic. I’m not an expert in the field, but I look at this thing from the position of the simple consumer. Russia measures everything politically. Moscow does not want us closer to the EU. But if you are in the EU you have some advantages, some priorities. What do we have from the fact that we have been in the CIS for almost 30 years, apart from the fact that we pay a lot of taxes? You are always threatened with “don’t forget where the gas comes from” or “don’t forget that summer passes and winter comes.” It would be good if the price of gas was not political, but it is political. Otherwise, how would we explain the fact that for Transnistria gas is twice as cheap as for those on the right bank of the Dniester? Russian gas is a political tool in Russia’s hands for the post-Soviet space. Whether we like it or not, Moscow will take into account how we voted in the parliamentary elections. I wish it was different, but it’s not. Although it depends on who will negotiate and how he will negotiate …

Stella Jantuan, political analyst

The price of gas has been and remains a tool of pressure used by the Russian Federation in political dialogue with other states, especially in the post-Soviet space, to maintain and promote its positions in the great geopolitical game. Moldova, which has lost control of its own energy system, being completely dependent on deliveries from the Russian Federation, is the most affected in this regard. Previous governments have only talked about creating alternative sources, but they have done nothing. The launch of the Iași-Ungheni-Chișinău gas pipeline, being intensely exploited politically, remained a beautiful electoral dream and a simple empty pipe for an indefinite period.
The Baden-Merkel dialogue on the launch of NordSream-2 and the elaboration of political conditionalities for the Russian Federation would be a chance for Moldova if Chișinău used this dialogue in its interests, as Ukraine does. In order to be prepared for the negotiation of new gas prices with Russia, the new government must secure and strengthen its positions, with the support of European partners in this regard.