Economist: Moldova Needs $1.9 Billion to Survive This Winter

Economist Gheorghe Costandache said that Moldova has almost no time left to solve numerous crises, and the current PAS government must go to Moscow to negotiate with Gazprom. The economist noted that when Andrei Spinu signed the protocol with Gazprom, PAS boasted that it is the Moldovan side that imposes conditions, including the calculation formula. According to the expert’s calculations, in order for Moldova to survive this winter, a huge amount of 1 billion 900 million U.S. dollars is needed only to pay for gas, n4.md reports. According to Gheorghe Costandache, the Russian Federation is unwilling to enter into another contract with the Moldovan side because of the undiplomatic behavior demonstrated by the current leadership. “The Russians will give us gas but not at the price we would like it to be. We offered the price calculation formula, as well as the payment form. Moldova also came up with the idea of auditing historical debts. “Gazprom accepted all these conditions,” the expert noted. To survive the winter, Moldova needs at least $1.9 billion, Costandache said. “Moldova’s share of the European Union’s is 0.0000002. We mean nothing to them in principle. The money that should be given to us as support should be received. But our country has other possibilities and internal resources which should be used. The shadow economy is up from 44% to 68%. We also have a state budget. We have money, but we need to put things in order,” the economist said. According to Gheorghe Costandache, Moldovans should take to the streets and demand that the government pay compensation for natural gas given the fact that they had boasted of having imposed the terms and gas price calculation formula on Russians. Point