Romania supports R. of Moldova

Romania will continue to provide support for the Republic of Moldova to overcome the energy crisis

Daniela Budu, 02.11.2022, 14:00

With a war at the country’s borders as winter
approaches and with the country relying increasingly on electricity imported
from Romania, the president of the R. of Moldova Maia Sandu travelled to
Bucharest on Tuesday, to ask for the help of the Romanian authorities.

Bucharest promised further support for the
neighbouring state in coping with the energy crunch and with the management of
the Ukrainian refugees, given that Moldova is the country the most affected by
the migration of Ukrainian nationals.

During the political consultations with president Klaus
Iohannis, Maia Sandu thanked for the measures taken by Romania to facilitate
the provision of electricity, natural gas, firewood and heating oil to Moldovan
citizens. The 2 officials also analysed the p[progress of bilateral energy
infrastructure interconnection projects.

Klaus Iohannis voiced support for Chişinău’s efforts
to reform its energy system in keeping with its commitments to the EU. Moreover,
he said Bucharest will continue to support the neighbouring country on its path
towards EU integration.

The regional security and energy situation were also the
main topic of the Moldovan official’s talks with PM Nicolae Ciucă. Maia Sandu once
again thanked Romania for its prompt response related to Moldova’s electricity deficit.
Specifically, Romania started providing electricity and natural gas to Moldova
in an emergency procedure, after Ukraine suspended energy exports to Chișinău because
of the Russian shelling of its power plants.

Maia Sandu also discussed her country’s energy-related
difficulties at an international conference on gender equality in politics,
held in Bucharest.

Maia Sandu: I
know how hard it is to help others when your own citizens are in difficulty, but
these are truly dramatic and decisive times, and we need each other. Because of
the war, we are experiencing a major energy crisis, and we risk running out of
gas and electricity for this winter. For Moldovan consumers, natural gas
tariffs went up 6 times this past year, and they are currently double the
prices in Romania. With electricity, things are just as bad. After the Russian
Federation bombed Ukraine’s networks, Gazprom cut down to a half the volume of
natural gas supplied to Moldova, and the supply of electricity from left of
Dniester for the coming month is uncertain. Securing electricity for the
country has become a daily challenge.

Romania is not the only country committed to
supporting Moldova. After a meeting of the Nordic Council in Helsinki on
Tuesday, Norway (Europe’s biggest natural gas supplier) along with Finland,
Sweden and Iceland pledged their support for Ukraine and Moldova with respect
to this winter’s natural gas supplies. (AMP)