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Natalia Gavrilita, Moldova’s prime minister, has said pressure levels in the country’s gas pipeline network had plummeted to “critical levels”. She said that, by declaring a state of emergency, Moldova will be able to obtain gas from other sources. Moldova is now seeking emergency support from the EU after the state-owned Russian gas company, Gazprom, cut supplies by a third last month following the expiry of a long-term contract. The EU has said it will do “whatever it takes” to help the country escape the crisis.
It comes after Gazprom demanded Moldova pay more than double the previous price if Gazprom were to continue supplying the country with gas.
Moldova is entirely reliant on Russian gas supplies, with 100 percent of its gas coming directly from Gazprom.
Some critics have accused Gazprom of exploiting the ongoing energy crisis to put pressure on the country after pro-EU president Maia Sandu and her Action and Solidarity party won landslide victories in the country’s most recent presidential and parliamentary elections.
And this is not the only instance perceived by analysts as Putin using gas as geopolitical tool in the EU.
Russia has also been accused of restricting gas supplies travelling into other EU countries as he awaits the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Nord Stream 2 is the pipeline that will see gas transited from Russia into Europe, bypassing Poland and Ukraine, through the Baltic Sea.
Some believe Mr Putin is hoping to avoid EU rules being slapped on his pipeline, and as he tries to speed up the certification process from the German regulators, he has tightened energy supplies in Europe by sending less gas through other Russian pipelines.
Poland was outraged by Russia’s slashing of European gas supplies, and wrote a furious letter to the EU in a cry for help.
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Signed by Poland’s climate and environment minister, Michał Kurtyka, on October 19, the letter claims the Kremlin’s attempt to link the increase of European gas deliveries with the completion of Nord Stream 2 “can only be treated as a misleading and manipulative attempt and clearly show the instrumentalisation of gas supplies by Russia to achieve a political objective.”
Warsaw believes that Gazprom is abusing its grip on the EU energy market, which violates EU law and has called for an investigation into their behaviour.
Poland pointed out that Gazprom has made no additional capacity bookings via the Yamal pipeline or via the Ukrainian Gas Transmission System (UGTS), has limited supplies travelling through Nord Stream 1 and has brought down European gas storage facilities operated by Gazprom to an all -time low.
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And the latest twist with the Moldova crisis no doubt adds to that list.
The letter said: “This creates a picture of a set of deliberate measures resulting in the undersupply of gas from the Russian direction accompanied by creating a false sense of urgency to start the operation of Nord Stream 2”.
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