SOS, we're freezing! President of Moldova asks for emergency assistance to buy gas

Ivan Zubov

Germany, France and several other EU countries promised new financial support to Moldova, but the President of this country, Maia Sandu, urged to speed up the provision of such assistance, Politico reports.

Moldova faces the prospect of an economic crisis due to cuts in Russian gas supplies and power outages, which, among other things, is accelerating inflation to 35%. In this regard, Moldovans are likely to spend about 65% of their income on electricity bills, Sandu said.

At the Moldova Support Platform conference, France announced that it would allocate €100 million to the country and Germany €32 million, in addition to the support of about €200 million that both countries pledged earlier. Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg and others also took part in the conference, but the exact amount was not named.

Moldova calls for speeding up the provision of financial assistance and the connection of Moldova to the European gas and energy networks.

“The truth is that many procedures of international cooperation, international donors, international institutions are designed for peacetime, not for wartime. And here we all really need to drastically increase the speed with which we implement specific projects, including when it comes to connection”, - Vecherniy telegram quotes a statement by Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu