Moldova is gearing up for a tough winter. The poorest country in Europe doesn't know how it will pay for the expensive Russian gas that it is almost completely reliant on. Here's and excerpt from an article on the crisis at euroactiv.com:
"Vadim Ceban, speaking on TV8 on Thursday evening (13 October), said the ex-Soviet state had to pay for 53 million cubic metres (cbm) of gas to cover October requirements, but that figure would rise sharply next month.
“In November, with the cold weather, the volume of gas is to rise to 150 million cbm and we will have to think about how to pay for it,” Ceban said.
Last week, Gazprom said it could shut off gas to Moldova completely unless all contractual obligations were met by 29 October, including settlement of a long-standing debt of about $709 million for past supplies."
In the past, under pro-russian governments, Moldova could have hoped for Putin to cut them a little slack. But Maia Sandu and her pro-west, anti-corruption government can expect no such favors. Just the opposite, really.Â
I'm currently living in the Moldova's capital, Chisinau, and temperatures already frequently drop below freezing. Yet the university I teach a class at and the couple bars I frequent are yet to turn on the heat. The bar owners say they probably won't this year . The university president is talking about possibly returning to online classes.Â
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