A historical view on the disputed debt Moldova supposedly owes Gazprom, from energy expert Sergiu Tofilat: the origin of the "debt" goes back to 94, when Russia increased gas prices for Moldova from $38 to $80, while CIS countries were paying $50 and European countries - $73 1/ Alongside the price increase, Gazprom asked Moldova for advance payments and penalties 17 times higher than for other countries. That's when Transnistria started not to pay for gas. The debt thus rose from $22 million to $291 in only 1 year. Russia's strategy... 2/

Transnistria changes discourse. Self-proclaimed president Vadim Krasnoselski: “we agree to the proposals of the Moldovan leaders to have gas delivered in the Transnistria region via Moldovagaz” and “we guarantee the payment”

1/ zdg.md/stiri/tiraspol… This is after Krasnoselski went to Moscow 10-14 Jan and claimed the energy crisis would be over via Russian humanitarian (free) gas. Then Chisinau blocked a private company’s deal with Tiraspoltransgaz claiming it broke anti-moneylaundering laws 2/

Chisinau changes discourse. Moldova’s deputy PM for reintegration Oleg Serebrian accused Tiraspol of “genocidal attitude” towards people in Transnistria that it “holds hostage” by refusing humanitarian help from Chisinau and Kyiv 1/ Serebrian held a press conf on Friday, when he was meant to meet separatist leader Ignatiev to discuss humanitarian aid but the latter refused to come. “We are ready to offer food, medicine, petrol, generators, receive the ill in hospitals, send ambulances on the left bank” 2/

According to declassified Romanian intelligence, a state actor has coordinated a mass guerilla political campaign under TikTok hashtags Balance and verticality, involving 100 influencers, similar to the Brother next to brother campaign in Ukraine before invasion 1/ A far right leader bought votes. Ro citizen Bogdan PEȘCHIR (bogpr) donated a million euros to TikTok to finance Călin GEORGESCU's campaign. TikTok confirmed the user paid 381.000 US dollars to other platform users, which is a breach of electoral law and platform policy 2/

A NYTimes profile dismisses the concern that former Moldovan journalist and presidential candidate Natalia Morari may be a Russian agent of influence, while mentioning that her mother worked as a KGB secretary in the 70s. Here are a few question marks.

(Thread) Morari was made persona nongrata in RU for a supposed investigation that led all the way to Putin.

Yet during her time as a journo in MD she made no investigations. Asked about how she got the info by the indie journo school in MD, she only spoke about its impact on her life

I wrote a piece about the imperialism that is still part of many liberal Russians’ discourse. It needs to go

theguardian.com/culture/2024/n… @AKurkov “Pushkin statues in Ukraine are not about literature but about marking Russian territory.”

“To prove that they don’t merely want a ‘redecorated Russia’ with one tsar replaced by another” members of the Russian opposition need to “give up on the idea of their greatness”.

The Russian World "is foreign to our national values and aspirations", Moldovan Metropolitan Vladimir said in a shocking letter to his superior, Russian Patriarch Kirill. The cleric criticised Kirill's support for the war in Ukraine and his defiance of Vladimir on Moldovan issues The letter was sent on 5 September. "We are in a situation of institutional bankruptcy," Vladimir said regarding the growing distrust in the Moldovan Metropolitan Church since the war in Ukraine.

74 years ago, over only one day, the Stalinist regime deported more than 34,000 people from Moldova to Siberia and Kazakhstan. A third of those people were children. This was one of three waves displacing about 80,000 Moldovans during the Soviet era In an usually personal move, Moldovan president Maia Sandu started her commemoration speech by listing the names of the deportees in her native village of Risipeni. "For the regime, these were lists. For us, they were living beings, our families," she said

I chaired a debate on fighting disinformation in Moldova, sparked by the fresh Romanian translation of This Is Not Propaganda by @PeterPomerantsev. The panel: @alina_ra from @ZiarulDe, @PashaValeriu (Watchdog), PM spokesperson @Daniel_Voda, @LilianaVitu (Audiovisual Council) We discussed many ideas, including how to decolonise Moldova's informational space by following dirty money, supporting competitive local content (entertainment too), investing in media literacy, becoming promoters of truth in our everyday lives, including on the public transport

The Shor party has been deemed illegal by Moldova's Constitutional Court. What next? Shor MPs will maintain their seats as independents. But if they lose their seats, no other Shor MPs can take their place. Former CC head Alexandru Tănase: in the short term, the power of this gesture is illusory rather than real; because Shor MPs retain their jobs. In the long term, this sets a dangerous precedent, he says

"Democracy is for the rich." Today I spoke to protestors, counter-protestors and onlookers at Moldova's demonstrations for @guardian theguardian.com/world/2023/mar… "Do you think I can afford cheese? I cannot!" one protestor, whose monthly pension is £100 told me. He wants to go back to the old times when gas was cheap, he explained

A man who might have been part of Wagner was denied entry to Moldova today, according to the border police. He is one of 183 foreign citizens banned from Moldova over the past week, amid local concerns for Russian-orchestrated destabilisations zdg.md/stiri/stiri-so…

It's official: Dorin Recean is the candidate Moldovan president Maia Sandu and the ruling party PAS have agreed on as the next PM. He was minister of internal affairs in 2012-2015. Sandu, speaker & PAS leader Igor Grosu, and Recean have just given a press briefing all together Recean emphasised three directions he wants to focus on: order and discipline in state institutions, more resources for investment and small businesses, peace and stability. Plus accelerating the EU integration process

Wow. After Moldova's blackout last week, the former pro-Kremlin president Igor Dodon condemned Russia's war in Ukraine. 'It's tragic, because following Russia's shelling of Ukraine, we were left without electricity." And more: "We have to thank Romanians" for selling us energy I thought Moldovans posting 'без вас', quoting Zelensky ('Without electricity or without you? Without you!') happened just within my bubble but maybe the blackout has changed the way others feel about the war too. Or: Kremlin's money going to Shor/ Dodon's trial for treason

Finally: the Moldovan Anticorruption Prosecutors have found 3.5 million lei (or 185,000 euros) in cash in 20 bags of Shor party’s representatives. Anticorruption Chief prosecutor Dragalin: we think this is their weekly budget. 24 people - detained. One person caught in flagrante This is Dragalin’s first ‘success’ since she became Anticorruption Chief Prosecutor in August. More on her background here:

https://twitter.com/paulaerizanu/status/1534122725161172994

Moldova trying to take back control of its gas transport system from Russia: state-owned Energocom will lend money to MoldovaGaz (Gazprom's kid) to pay the sum it lacks for Sept & Oct. If MoldovaGaz does not pay back this loan by May 23, Energocom will take over transport system The context is that Russia said it would stop gas supplies to Moldova if MoldovaGaz does not pay Gazprom the debt for September and the advance for October by 20 October

In her press briefing following the Supreme Security Council meeting, Moldovan president Maia Sandu said any Moldovan citizens choosing to fight on the side of the Russian aggressor will have their Moldovan citizenship removed. Many people esp in Transnistria have both passports Sandu also said there is a high risk that Russia might interrupt the gas contract with Moldova on 1 October, when the gas prices should drop, according to Moldovagaz's contract with Gazprom

Among Kremlin-linked destabilisation attempts in Moldova, yesterday 25th september there were two protests: one in Chisinau, organised by the fugitive oligarch Shor, and one in Comrat, Gagauzia. Both accuse president Maia Sandu and the PAS government for inflation and gas prices There are plenty of proofs all across independent media about people being paid and transported by Shor as he tries to escape justice for his embezzlement. These protests must have cost him a lot. A caricature by Alex Buretz explaining the financial model of the protests