EU Announces $250 Million Package To Help Moldova Tackle Harsh Energy Crisis
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shakes hands with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Chisinau on November 10.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has paid an official visit to Moldova, where she announced a 250 million-euro ($250 million) financial package to help one of Europe's poorest countries overcome a severe energy crisis amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
Von der Leyen said on November 10 that Moldova was to receive 100 million euros in grants and the same amount again in loans from the European Union to help it meet its gas needs this winter, starting on January 1.
An extra 50 million euros will help the country's most vulnerable citizens, von der Leyen said at a joint news conference with Moldova's pro-Western president, Maia Sandu.
"European solidarity with the Republic of Moldova is unshakable," von der Leyen said. "We assure you that we will do our best to help you through this crisis."
The chief of the 27-member bloc's executive said that a donors meeting will be held in Paris later this month to help Moldova purchase energy resources.
Cuts In Russian Gas And Ukrainian Electricity Leave Moldova Out In The Cold
1/14Electricians service power lines near Balti, Moldova, on November 2.
The Moldovan government could sue Russian state energy company Gazprom over a sharp cut in natural gas supply and is studying its options, Reuters reported. Gazprom has accused cash-strapped Moldova of failing to promptly pay for gas deliveries.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
2/14Moldovan President Maia Sandu arrives for a meeting of the European Political Community at Prague Castle on October 6.
Sandu, the pro-European and Harvard-educated president of Moldova, has warned that with gas prices soaring as much as 600 percent in the past year, her country could potentially run out of gas and electricity this winter.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
3/14Power lines are pictured on the outskirts of Balti on November 2.
Moldova, which has denounced the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, has a contract with Gazprom that fluctuates from month to month based on the spot-market price of gas and oil. With prices soaring and a 40 percent cut in deliveries, the country is struggling to supply enough electricity to its 2.5 million population.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
4/14The crisis has forced this factory, which produces building materials, to shut down for the first time since 1992. Its workers are now reassigned to building a new hall in order to keep their jobs.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
5/14Ion Ignat, the founder and director of the company producing building materials, contemplates his future at the idled factory that previously employed 50 workers.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
6/14Concrete blocks are pictured in the courtyard of Ignat's factory in Chetrosu.
Ignat said the "next six months will be decisive" for his country. "We have one foot in Russia and one in the EU. But if we're going to be brave and dignified we'll have both feet in Europe and we'll get rid of the blackmail of the past 30 years."
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
7/14A woman eats her dinner by candlelight in Chisinau on October 25.
"It's a daily challenge to supply the country with energy. A family is paying 70 to 75 percent of its incomes on [gas and electricity] bills," Sandu said in a recent address to parliament in neighboring Romania.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
9/14A tractor works the land near Tibirica on November 2.
EU member Romania said last month it would start selling electricity to its neighbor at a reduced price because of the difficulties created by the war in Ukraine. The Moldovan government has also urged towns to turn off street lights and households to limit consumption, with businesses asked to alter their hours to work at off-peak times.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
10/14Sergei Litra, the owner of Litra Brewing Company, Moldova's first craft beer factory, is trying hard to save energy. His employees now work in two shifts outside peak hours, one running from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
"Everything depends on when the war in Ukraine will end. This war made everybody understand that we need energy independence," the 36-year-old told AFP, adding that he was considering buying solar panels.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
11/14Previously, Ukraine provided 30 percent of Moldova's electricity needs. However, Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure have forced Kyiv to halt all exports. The remaining 70 percent of the country's power normally comes from a thermal power station in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region, where Russian troops are stationed and which also cut deliveries.
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
12/14Sandu -- a former World Bank economist elected in 2020 -- said Moldova's dependence on Russian gas is a "vulnerability [that] generates political blackmail."
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
13/14Villagers use a horse and cart in Tibirica on November 2.
On October 26, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on a former Moldovan official and several other figures to counter Russia's "persistent malign influence campaigns and systemic corruption in Moldova."
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
14/14"I felt deep sadness seeing Chisinau plunged into darkness," said pharmacist Liliana Damaschin, 54, who had returned to Moldova from her job in Italy for a holiday. "I am very worried about my country."
The president of Moldova has warned that her nation could run out of gas and electricity this winter as it faces a sharp cut in natural gas supplies.
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Moldova has received hundreds of thousands of refugees in the wake of Russia's unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Von der Leyen said that the EU will come to Moldova's aid the same way Moldovans came to the aid of Ukraine.
"Moldova is part of our European family. And family must stick together when the times are getting tough and difficult," she said.
Moldova has been invited to open membership talks with the European Union together with Ukraine in the wake of the invasion.
Sandu has condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while Russia has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Moldova in an ongoing dispute over energy payments. Moldova is heavily dependent on Russia for its natural gas.
WATCH: A volunteer in the central Moldovan village of Gidighici is helping elderly residents to apply online for government subsidies for those who heat their homes with coal or wood.
Sandu has said that Moscow is using gas as "political blackmail" in the country, where household energy tariffs have increased six-fold in the past year amid skyrocketing inflation.
"We are facing the worst energy crisis in three decades," Sandu said on November 10. "A crisis in which energy resources are being used as weapons against democracy."
On November 11, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will also pay an official visit to Moldova.
Fears of a spillover from the Ukraine conflict have persisted since the Russian invasion amid concerns that Moscow could attempt to create a land corridor through southern Ukraine to Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniester.
Russia maintains some 1,500 soldiers in Transdniester who are said to be guarding a huge Soviet-era arms depot.
Besides the troops ostensibly guarding the depot, Russia has another 400-500 soldiers in Transdniester that have been labeled as peacekeepers since the end of a 1992 war between Moldova and the separatists that ended in a tense cease-fire enforced by Russian troops.
RFE/RL’s Moldova Service reaches 30 percent of the population in Moldova each week, increasing listeners’ understanding of local, regional, and global events.
![A woman eats her dinner by candlelight in Chisinau on October 25.<br />
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"It's a daily challenge to supply the country with energy. A family is paying 70 to 75 percent of its incomes on [gas and electricity] bills," Sandu said in a recent address to parliament in neighboring Romania.<br />
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![Sandu -- a former World Bank economist elected in 2020 -- said Moldova's dependence on Russian gas is a "vulnerability [that] generates political blackmail."<br />
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