Moldovan PM's speech in parliament's plenum on establishment of emergency state

Chisinau, 13 December /MOLDPRES/ - Speech by Prime Minister Dorin Recean in parliament’s plenum on the establishment of the state of emergency, delivered to MOLDPRES Agency.    

„Dear citizens,

Dear Mr. Parliament Speaker, dear MPs,

Today, I am in front of you to demand the establishment of the emergency state. We come up with this demand, in order to protect our citizens and to make sure that we will be able to efficiently manage the imminent risks related to the ceasing of the delivery of natural gas to the Transnistrian region by Russia and Gazprom.   

First of all, I want to specify an essential thing, so that there are no speculations: the right bank of Dniester is provided with natural gas for the entire cold period. There are no risks for us to remain without gas and without heating. Instead, the citizens on the left bank, our citizens are in continuation dependent on one source of gas – Gazprom. Under the contractual provisions, Gazprom has obligation to deliver natural gas to Moldova till 30 September 2026.  

At present, Gazprom, which is obliged, under contract, to deliver at least 5.7 million cubic metres of gas per day to the left bank of Dniester, it conditions the deliveries of gas to the Kuchurgan Station on an alleged debt, which does not exist.  They want the citizens of Moldova to pay them 700 million dollars – an inexistent debt, as condition for Gazprom to observe its obligations under contract. In full swing of winter, Russia can leave the region in cold and darkness. This does not represent only an economic risk, but also a humanitarian threat, especially for the citizens on the left bank of Dniester. Also, the ceasing of the Kuchurgan Station creates risks of supply with electric energy also to the right bank of Dniester.    

The Kremlin’s war in Ukraine has fully changed the situation regarding the delivery of electricity in Moldova. Till 2022, we had access to a stable energy market and Moldova was balancing its supply with electric energy from Ukraine; at present, we have only two options: the Kuchurgan Station and the high-tension power line Isaccea-Vulcanesti-Kuchurgan Station-Dnestrovsk-Chisinau. The situation is worsened by the continuous bombardment of the capacities of production and transport of electric energy from Ukraine, especially of the ones nearby the border with Moldova, which put pressure on the energy system from the entire region.     

The Transnistrian region, for instance, has been already directly affected by these attacks. The Metallurgical Plant from Rabnita can no longer be supplied with electric energy, because the station from Podolsk, Ukraine, where the high-tension power line supplying it passes, was bombarded. Two thousand and five hundreds, I repeat, 2,500 people lost their jobs and incomes. If somebody still has illusions that Russia takes care or protects the people from the Transnistrian region, now, it should clear for everybody that it holds them hostages and uses them for the interests to destabilize Moldova and the region.     

I have a message both for the ordinary citizens and for the business environment from the left bank of Dniester. We will help, but we will not discriminate the citizens on the right bank of Dniester. You must pay for the energy resources. The gas for free was a lure for you; now, you see this.    

Russia wants to leave the districts from the left bank of Dniester without energy. In the full swing of winter. In the mean geopolitical interests, Putin’s regime wants to leave the people from the left bank of Dniester in cold, without incomes, without pensions and without salaries, and again, leaves them hostages. First, they waged a war on the territory of our freshly independent country; afterwards, they brought their troops, they blocked the reintegration for decades and now they throw these people in crisis deliberately.     

Why do they do this? In order to destabilize Moldova. Moscow uses the information war, in continuation, in order to put the blame on Moldova and Ukraine for the crisis which they trigger themselves. I have already explained that this is a fake! But they will try, in continuation, to persuade us that we are guilty for this. The Kremlin regime, in essence, wants our budget to be burdened by costs dealing with the electric energy, by the humanitarian crisis from the left bank of Dniester, so that there are limited resources left for pensions and social benefits. And after this, the servants of the Kremlin from Chisinau will speculate at the expense of the poverty and economic crisis at the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Now, you can understand the cynicism and cruelty of this way of seizing power in Moldova. They did not succeed in 2022 and 2023 with the paid protests and those provocations; they did not succeed in 2024 with massive purchased votes. So, they will try also in another way – through destabilization.               

In the context, we discuss with the people from the left bank of Dniester. What we will undertake is to avoid a large-scale humanitarian crisis in that region because of these imperialistic ambitions of the Kremlin.  

If Gazprom fully interrupts the deliveries, the Kuchurgan Station informs us that it  has stocks of coal which might cover only the consumption of electric energy of the Transnistrian region for a quite short period and with significant risks of the network’s destabilization.

In the lack of the production of energy at the Kuchurgan Station, will be ensure Moldova’s supply with electric energy from the ENTSO European network and especially from Romania. It is worth mentioning that, in the last months, Romania and other European states have also been facing a deficit of electric energy. As a good deal of the electric energy produced on the European continent covers the deficit created by Russia’s bombardments in Ukraine. These bombardments continue and they are boosting with the coming of the cold season; they destroy both the capacities of production and the capacities of transportation of electric energy.    

At the moment, the capacity of import of electric energy to our country is limited to 315 MW through the interconnection with Romania. This is insufficient to cover the demand during the peak hours on the right bank. Nevertheless, the vulnerability is pronounced by the fact that the Isaccea-Vulcanesti interconnection power line crosses the territory of Ukraine, which turns it vulnerable in the case of new attacks against the energy infrastructure from the neighbour country. Thus, even in the conditions in which the emerged deficit of electric energy will be covered all over the country, its price will change, especially for the residents on the left bank of Dniester.    

There is the risk of a major crisis and it would be irresponsible on your behalf to politicize this so serious subject. We must not mix up the things and I urge you not to speculate. If the Kremlin wants gas to be in the Transnistrian region, then there will be gas. The so-called problem of the transit is an artificial problem, induced deliberately. There is no a problem with the transportation of gas to Moldova and especially to the left bank of Dniester. Gazprom must observe the contract, just as Russia also must observe the territorial integrity of Moldova. There are enough routes and capacities for gas to reach our country.   

Looking into the future, we must turn this winter into the last one when the Kremlin can influence our security. We got rid of the gas blackmail on the right bank and will get rid of the energy one with the finishing of the high-tension power line Chisinau-Vulcanesti. We quite attentively monitor the project which should be finished and put into operation in the end of the year.

The government solves the problems which you have not settled during all the years when you were at rule. You may criticize, you may not remember how you did nothing but waiting in anterooms from Moscow and Saint Petersburg; you can claim that you forgot, but now, we talk about people and about their safety and even their security. If we leave it without the proper attention, the humanitarian crisis will degenerate into a crisis of safety and security on the left bank of Dniester, which, for its part, will regard the security of the state too. We act resolutely, we invest in our independence and we care about each family from Moldova, no matter the bank of Dniester where it lives.       

Yes, the full independence lasts, especially when the Kremlin’s agents, including from this parliament, have sabotaged our energy independence during these years; yet, it implies will and costs, but we cannot afford to remain without light or heating during winter. We can no longer endanger the safety and security of the state because of the Kremlin and your inaction.     

We demand that the parliament gives the government the legal leverages, through which we will be able to act quickly and resolutely, in order to avoid all risks to the state’s safety and security. The present normative framework does not allow the quick taking of decisions in such situations. We anticipate the need of urgent decisions through derogation from the following laws in the following situations.    

The law on the state border 28/2024 and the Law on the entrance and exit from Moldova 269/1994: establishment of green corridors for the employees of the international missions, equipment used for the humanitarian assistance, for the establishment of green corridors for ensuring the simplified regime of evacuation of citizens with foreign citizenship or without citizenship (for instance, has only documents issued by the non-recognized authorities from the left bank of Dniester), along with the family, material assets, transferable securities.   

The law on the industrial emissions 227/2022: permission of additional emissions at the import and use of coal.

The Law on the services of payment and electronic coin114/2012: imposing of the positive obligation of collecting and carrying out of payments for the citizens and companies from the left bank of Dniester, who do not have the proper registrations on the right bank of Dniester at constitutional authorities.  

The Law on medicine 1409/1997 and the Law on the pharmaceutical activity 1456/1993: for the exceptions dealing with the humanitarian assistance from the medical sector. Substances, equipment which are not in our classified lists, etc.  

The Law on local public administration 236/2006 and the Law on the administrative decentralization 435/2006: in order to fit the needs of the internally displaced people. There are Moldova’s citizens there and they cannot be treated as refugees.   

The Labour Code 154/2003: if some public sector state’s employees, as well as private sector employees should be urgently detached to Ukraine – which is in state of war – for the carrying out of maintenance, repair work or reestablishment of electricity networks.

The Law on the state budget, for the cases of allocations of means and assistance from abroad. The assistance will come namely for Moldova to help the citizens on the left bank of Dniester.  

The Customs Code 95/2021 and the Fiscal Cod 1163/1997: import for the humanitarian needs – without customs duties, value added tax, excise duties, from the true friends of Moldova.  

We saw much manipulation on the subject of emergency state – that it would be made for certain non-transparent procurements or inefficient spending of public money. We gave the aforementioned examples, namely in order to clearly show why the emergency state is necessary.  

And what concerns us most of all is the supply with electric energy of both banks of Dniester, so that our people can overcome this winter successfully, which, I as I have said, must be the last winter from the country’s history when we can be still threatened in the energy sector.  

On the period of the emergency state, Moldova’s Commission for Emergency Situations will issue instructions which will ensure the settlement of the real problems of the citizens. I enumerated above a list of examples as regards the instruments and the legal framework necessary in the emergency state for which we prepare.

The government will ensure the residents’ informing about the existing risks, as well as the measures which will be undertaken. At the same time, it will avail of all legal leverages, for the prevention, diminution and liquidation of the consequences which triggered the emergency state.  

The government will always be at your disposal, dear MPs, to subject to parliamentary control each decision taken and implemented in defending the interests of Moldova’s citizens.   

’Now! The influence agents of Russia, especially those who are sitting in the parliament’s session hall, should understand quite clearly: the plan on Moldova’s destabilization will not work!’’   

The stake of this destabilization is the consolidation of the military power on the left bank of Dniester.

Dear lawmakers, I rely on your responsibility and support. The citizens today will see who from this hall cares about the Kremlin and who cares about the people.’’