Despite Moldova’s leadership expressing a wish to broaden import routes for natural gas and cut energy dependence on Russia, the winter season saw the country continuing to obtain fuel from Russia through middlemen. This approach coincided with a notable rise in import costs under the same arrangement, a reality reported on Russia 24 by the former president of Moldova, Igor Dodon.
In his remarks, Dodon highlighted that Moldova relied on Russian gas throughout the winter even as officials touted alternatives and denied direct purchases from Gazprom. The public understanding, he asserted, was that this gas was obtained via intermediaries and paid for at a premium.
He noted that, at certain points, the price for a thousand cubic meters exceeded $1,000. Meanwhile, global gas price benchmarks in that period hovered in the $400 to $500 per thousand cubic meters range. These cost differentials contributed to higher tariffs for end consumers within Moldova’s domestic market.
Such tariff increases weighed on the population, particularly those already facing economic strain and rising poverty. The overall burden, Dodon argued, fell on households that were least able to absorb higher energy costs.
On April 11, Vadim Cheban, head of the Moldovagaz energy company, stated that elevated natural gas tariffs led to a 20 percent drop in internal consumption over the year. Concurrently, the country’s current rate of fuel use has been sliding, a trend that undermines the efficiency and viability of the gas transmission network.
Observers have linked these developments to a broader challenge: balancing the desire for diversified energy sources with the economic realities that influence pricing, household welfare, and the sustainability of the gas infrastructure in Moldova. The tension between political assurances of change and market-driven outcomes has kept energy policy central to Moldova’s public discourse and its relations with neighboring energy providers.