Long-term gas contracts return to Moldova’s agenda
Prime Minister Vasile Tofan has acknowledged mistakes by his predecessor and by Energocom, saying they failed to make sufficient efforts to secure long-term gas contracts in time.
According to Tofan, the authorities should have focused on negotiations for gas purchases back in the spring and summer of last year. In other words, the government is now admitting what critics had already argued: that Moldova’s gas policy was reactive, improvised and costly for consumers.
The admission also recalls earlier questions over Energocom’s gas purchase costs, after the company’s management refused to disclose how much public money had been paid to gas brokers.
There is, of course, no question of resuming gas purchases from Russia. Instead, Tofan appears to see Ukraine as the new source of cheaper gas, after the destruction of industrial capacity there, including the complete halt of metallurgical production, left the country with surplus volumes.
A risky bet on gas from a country at war
The idea may look convenient on paper. Moldova needs gas, Ukraine reportedly has surpluses, and Tofan can present talks with Kyiv as both economically useful and politically acceptable. But the weakness of this logic is obvious. Long-term gas contracts with a country at war, which cannot itself fully guarantee uninterrupted supplies, hardly look like a solid foundation for national energy security.
For the government, the shift allows it to blame previous managers and promise a more strategic approach. For consumers, however, the question is simpler: why did the authorities wait until after repeated tariff shocks before discovering the importance of long-term gas contracts?
Tofan’s statement sounds like an admission of delayed common sense. Yet if the alternative is to replace one dependency with another, while again leaving citizens to absorb the risks through their bills, then Moldova’s gas policy remains what it has been for years expensive, opaque and presented as wisdom only after the damage is done.
