Moldovan opposition appeals to government to compensate citizens for soaring energy bills

The Moldovan opposition on Wednesday urged that citizens must be monetarily compensated for the high energy bills that they had to pay during the winters amid the ongoing war in neighbouring Ukraine. In a remark with Russia's state-affiliated news agency Sputnik, Marina Tauber, the vice-president of the Moldovan opposition Sor party on March 8 said that Moldovan people had incurred exorbitant bills for the heating and electricity as the estimated one billion euros ($1.05 billion) that the country received from EU over the past two years, was insufficient to cover pricing for gas, heating as well as the electricity bills. 

"In the winter period, citizens felt significantly burdened by increasing heating and electricity prices. That is why the government is urged to compensate citizens for heating and electricity as part of the protest 'Movement for the People.' We are convinced that the authorities have all necessary tools and finances for that," Tauber told Sputnik. 

Legislative proposal to resolve energy crisis blocked

According to Tauber, the government in Moldova had tabled a legislative proposal to resolve the existing social and economic crisis. But the bill was blocked by the ruling Action and Solidarity (PAS) party. Neighbouring Ukraine has been struggling with the looming inflation and skyrocketing energy prices that soared to almost seven times compared to last year, 2022. "Our legislative initiatives covered the issue of raising and indexing pensions and other social payments. But the PAS ignored all our draft laws, it is not communicating with the opposition. Inflation is now three times higher than pensions in the country, and utility costs are immense," said vice-president of the Moldovan opposition Sor party. 

National Energy Regulatory Agency of Moldova, ANRE, had previously hiked the electricity tariff for household consumers by about 25 per cent. The increase in energy prices was witnessed in November last year due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the bombardment of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Starved with Russian gas that it was reliant on for several decades, both Moldova and Romania faced a dearth of gas and electricity as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen pledged to tackle the lowered supply during her visit to the country in September as inflation rose to 33.9 percent year-on-year. Prices of food also increased in September by almost 39 percent.