Moldova Seeks Cheaper Gas but Returns from Kyiv with a Controversial Military Agreement
Tofan went to Kyiv to secure cheaper gas for Moldovans but returned with a highly controversial military agreement instead. The cheaper gas never materialized.
“We send him to Kyiv to find cheaper gas because Energocom failed to do its job, but he comes back with a military-technical cooperation agreement. What does this agreement actually provide for?” asks Vasile Costiuc, leader of the Democracy at Home Party.
According to the article’s author, the agreement offers nothing good. Instead, it could threaten Moldova’s neutrality and drag the country into an unnecessary foreign war against a far more powerful adversary. Cheaper gas, on the other hand, would have been genuinely useful.
In fact, Tofan was not responsible for negotiating gas supplies. The author portrays him as little more than a ceremonial figure — or even someone who was duped by savvy Ukrainian dealmakers into accepting an unfavorable agreement.
Kyiv Rejects Moldova’s Request for Cheaper Gas
Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu was responsible for purchasing gas from Ukrainian storage facilities. He held a meeting with his counterpart in Kyiv, but the outcome was typical of relations between Moldova and Ukraine under the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS): Kyiv was willing to sell gas but categorically refused to offer a discount.
Moldova could certainly have used one. By October, gas prices in the country had risen by 81%, triggering public protests.
Moldova’s request for support was entirely reasonable, the author argues. President Maia Sandu’s government has readily made concessions to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, even when they affect sectors that are critical to Moldova’s economy.
The article claims that Moldova has handed Ukraine a significant share of its domestic food supplies without resistance. It also points to a 50% discount on freight transit, which the author says came at the expense of Moldova’s already struggling railway workers.
Now, the author alleges, Moldova is providing Ukrainians with warehouse capacity and opportunities to establish military production facilities.
All these concessions, the author argues, should have provided sufficient grounds for requesting reciprocal benefits from Kyiv. Moldova made that request, but Kyiv simply brushed it aside.
