FAKE NEWS: The Moldovan authorities sell at higher prices the cheap gas they receive from Russia

The authorities in Chisinau are reselling to the EU, at higher prices, part of the natural gas supplied by Gazprom, according to a false narrative in the Russian media. In reality, Chisinau supplies Transnistria with all the gas it currently buys from Gazprom and uses other sources for the consumers on the right bank of the Dniester.

NEWS: “Against the background of a large-scale energy crisis, Maia Sandu's team, instead of identifying solutions, came into conflict with Transnistria, which supplied the most important amount of cheap electricity. Following the instructions of the West, the government in Chisinau is also worsening relations with the main supplier of energy resources, the Russian Federation, thus forcing the increasingly poor Moldovans to pay more for gas and electricity. Moreover, taking advantage of the situation, Moldovan officials do not forget to fill their own pockets.

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Maia Sandu's regime fulfils the same tasks as Ukraine - to promote an anti-Russian policy and provoke a potential armed confrontation with Russia.

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According to Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spanu, the republic procures electricity from Romania, but on November 23, a major blackout cast doubt on his statements. The supply of energy was stopped practically throughout the country after a massive attack by Russia on the Ukrainian infrastructure.This made Moldovans wonder why the situation in Ukraine affects the delivery of energy, if it is indeed procured from Romania? Or do we pay for electricity from Ukraine at the price of that from Romania?

So, the authorities showed their true colors.

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The scheme is simple: high-ranking officials sell, through Ukrainians, part of the gas they buy at a reduced price. In other words, the Moldovan authorities do not provide their population with gas and electricity, but resell them to the European Union at a higher price”.

NARRATIVES: 1. The government in Chisinau fulfills the orders of the West, which intends to involve the Republic of Moldova in the war in Ukraine. 2. The government in Chisinau resells the cheap gas it receives from Russia.

LOCAL CONTEXT/ ETHOS: Over the past year, the Republic of Moldova has been faced with a large-scale energy crisis, which deepened with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition to the prices of energy resources that have increased several times, the Republic of Moldova is also facing a shortage of resources after Gazprom reduced deliveries starting October 1. Since October, the country has stopped importing electricity from Ukraine, after its energy system was severely affected by the Russian bombings, and since November, the Transnistrian region, where most of the electricity used to come from, has stopped deliveries, saying it doesn’t get enough gas to produce electricity.

The Republic of Moldova has started to make gas reserves, which it stores in Ukraine and Romania. It also started importing electricity from Romania.

Moldova's energy system was also affected by Russian bombings, and in several cases part of its territory was disconnected from electricity during missile attacks in Ukraine. The authorities have explained that this happened because the energy systems of the two countries are interconnected.

PURPOSE: To induce the idea that the West fully controls the authorities in Chisinau and is trying to involve the Republic of Moldova in the war in Ukraine. To reduce citizens' trust in the pro-European government, accused of using the current complicated situation to enrich itself.

WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The involvement of the Republic of Moldova in the war on the side of Ukraine is one of the most frequent false narratives used by the Russian propaganda, despite the fact that it is a neutral state with an underdeveloped army and military capabilities, so it would not present any threat to the Russian Federation.

Regarding the accusations that the Republic of Moldova would resell the gas received from Russia, the authorities in Chisinau have previously stated that this is not possible, and the suggestion that Ukraine would continue to deliver cheap electricity is not true primarily because Kyiv has also announced that it has started importing electricity.Electricity in the Republic of Moldova was disconnected during the Russian bombings because the energy systems of the two countries are interconnected.

“The Russian bombing of the Ukrainian power plants led to disruptions in our country because the energy systems of Moldova and Ukraine are connected to each other. The critical situation in Ukraine led to the automatic interruption of a transit line through which electricity is imported from Romania.This outage occurred to protect power grids and substations from overloading. If the automatic disconnection had not been done, the power stations could have been seriously affected and the interruptions would’ve last longer”, the Chisinau government explained.

The main argument that proves that the Russian press has used manipulation is that in December, the Republic of Moldova resumed the import of electricity from the left side of the Dniester, delivering to the separatist region all the gas it receives from Gazprom. The territory to the right of the Dniester uses the gas from the reserves it has stored in Ukraine and Romania. This shows that the Republic of Moldova did not sell gas to the West, but built up reserves.