"It is fundamentally important for the Moldovan authorities that Putin and Trump do not come to an agreement"

Moldova's external debt will grow by more than 2.5 times by the end of this year due to joining sanctions against Russia and abandoning Russian gas, former President of the republic, leader of the Party of Socialists Igor Dodon said in an interview with Izvestia. The country has recorded a record increase in inflation over the past four years. The economic downturn is taking place on the eve of the parliamentary elections. The date of the vote will depend on the success of the negotiations between Russia and the United States. In the event of a warming of relations between them, the ruling party in Moldova will want to delay the elections in order to strengthen its position. The Socialists are already in dialogue with potential partners to form a parliamentary majority. Igor Dodon spoke in an exclusive interview with Izvestia about the options for restoring Russian gas transit, the desire to participate in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and the loss of confidence in the Moldovan authorities.

"By the end of this year, our government debt will grow by more than 2.5 times"

— Earlier you stated that the current Moldovan authorities are to blame for the economic failure in the republic. What do you think is the reason for this failure and what is the government doing wrong today?

— For four years now, Moldova has been led by PAS and Maia Sandu, and all this time we have been experiencing a decline in most economic and social indicators — in industry, in agriculture, and a record increase in inflation of more than 70% in total over the entire period. According to the results, by the end of this year, the government's debt, both internal and external, will increase by more than 2.5 times. This is a disastrous period for the country.

This happened, among other things, because Moldova joined the anti-Russian sanctions. We can make a comparison with the same Georgia, which took a neutral position at the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, despite the fact that in recent years it has talked about the need to join NATO, and they had a tougher position on rapprochement with the military bloc. But the current Georgian authorities have decided to stay away from this conflict, even though they were being pushed to open a second front.

Moldova, despite the neutral status of our country, joined the anti-Russian sanctions. Moreover, it has become a territory through which military supplies were supplied and, I think, are now being supplied for the needs of the Ukrainian army. As a result, the republic's economy, which was already very weak, faced the fact that the Russian market was completely closed to us. Our hundreds of thousands of people who worked in Russia cannot transfer money home now.

We started buying Russian energy resources through European intermediaries. If it was possible to buy gas from Russia in 2022-2023 for $300-400 per 1,000 cubic meters, then we bought it for thousands.

Now hundreds of thousands of people have left the country, thousands of businesses have closed. We have such an indicator as absolute poverty: previously it was about 20% of the population, now it is more than 35%. The main reason is the incompetence of the current government. Moldova has also lost its neutral status in the economy.

— What is the price for 1 cubic meter of gas in Moldova today?

— Moldova bought gas during this heating season for €550-600 per 1,000 cubic meters, despite the fact that in summer it could be bought for €250-300. If we had a dialogue with Russia, I think we could get gas at a much lower price this winter.

For our citizens, this would mean a tariff of up to 10 lei per 1 cubic meter, compared to the 18 lei we paid this winter.

"We need to resume strategic partnership with Russia"

— With the coming of the current government, Chisinau is purposefully severing ties with Moscow. Why did the republic choose such a course?

— I think they are doing this to please Brussels and Washington, but now we see that the United States has taken a course towards warming its bilateral relations with Russia. Only the current Moldovan authorities do not understand or do not want to realize that the situation in the world has changed. We need to be friends with Russia, communicate, resume strategic partnership, and participate in the joint platforms of the CIS and the EAEU, where we have a place at the negotiating table.

— In January, Kiev stopped the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine, as a result of which Transnistria found itself in an energy blockade. Currently, the unrecognized republic receives natural gas. In your opinion, could the January situation be repeated, when the PMR was cut off from gas supplies?

— At the beginning of this year, Chisinau staged a real energy blockade for Transnistria. A technical solution was found immediately — Moscow announced that it was ready to supply humanitarian gas, but for a whole month Chisinau blocked its supply.

In the short term, the situation may repeat itself. The station that pumps gas is located on the territory of Ukraine, and the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline passes through Ukraine twice before entering Transnistria from Moldova. Therefore, if Kiev wants to block supplies, it can do it very simply, as in January. We hear expert assessments that Zelensky may have ambitions to start some kind of provocations in Transnistria, so we must take this very seriously.

If transit through Ukraine does not resume, then we will have to work with Tiraspol to find a solution to meet the needs of the citizens and the Pridnestrovian gas industry. This already concerns the next government, and I am sure that it will have socialists. In the long term, there is a solution for alternative supplies, but it is necessary to conclude contracts with Gazprom.

"We will never become members of the EU"

— Parliamentary elections will be held in Moldova this year. How do you see the future of the republic, Transnistria and Gagauzia, as well as what relations between Chisinau and Moscow may become?

— I see the future in a single neutral sovereign country. The European Union is our neighbors, and we have nowhere to go, but we will never become members of the EU. We don't need this, because the European Union is becoming a military bloc and imposing anti-Russian methods on us and the LGBT movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia. — Ed.).

As for Russia, we will return to our strategic partnership in all aspects — economic, social, and humanitarian. We have always advocated that the Russian language should be returned to the school curriculum, because its knowledge is a big plus for a Moldovan citizen.

— Recently, there was a scandal in Romania in connection with the cancellation of the results of the first round of the presidential election and the detention of Calin Georgescu...

— What is happening in Romania raises serious questions, because it can happen in Moldova. Romanian citizens and the diaspora began to vote against the globalists. And Calin Georgescu began to gather people around him with ideas against war, against globalists and for national interests. The Brussels globalists and those in the Romanian leadership were afraid of this. They could not allow another country of the European Union, besides Hungary and Slovakia, to have a tough pro-government and anti-war position. That is why they decided to cancel the elections.

— Does the Party of Socialists currently maintain contacts with other political forces?

— Our potential partners, with whom we are already establishing contact, are parties that are committed to protecting national interests. I think that if the EU wants to remain a united and geopolitical player, it must move away from the military agenda and return to the economic one. And if the current leadership continues to do what it is doing now, the European Union will collapse from within.

"75% of the Moldovan population will vote against the ruling party"

— What are the chances of the Socialist Party gaining a majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections? And if it doesn't work out, will you unite with the opposition, including the Victory bloc?

— In Moldovan politics, the political pendulum moved left and right. Moldova's right—wing politicians are leftists in the United States and Europe. Our right—wing politicians are pro-LGBT (the movement is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation. — Ed.), for globalists, "sorosists" and so on. If we are talking about the electoral field, the center-left parties now have more than 60%.

I am sure that the center-left can get a majority, because the center, which voted for Maia Sandu and PAS four years ago, will no longer vote for them, we are working on this. But recently there was such a legislative initiative: if it is proved that in any party there is a trace of the Shor party, which was actually unconstitutional, then it will not participate in the elections.

We will form coalitions with the parties that will enter the legislature, except for Maia Sandu's party. I think we will succeed, because according to all polls, no more than 25% of the population can vote for the current president's team now. 75% of the Moldovan population will be against the ruling party. It is clear that the diaspora abroad and in Europe will try to falsify something, but in any case, this is not the majority.

We are conducting a constructive dialogue with all potential partners for the next parliamentary majority, and we are in contact with everyone.

— The exact date of the vote has not yet been set in the republic. When can it pass?

— There are two possible scenarios — either in summer or in autumn. Chisinau will focus on what will happen in Ukraine, and it is fundamentally important for the current government that Putin and Trump do not come to an agreement, just as it is for Brussels. Here, for our "European Russians", the point is that if there is a conflict, they can blame everything on it, then they can again go on a campaign with horror stories "Putin, tanks, the Kremlin."

If the war continues, the elections will be held very quickly — maybe this summer. And if a dialogue begins between Trump and Putin, Maia Sandu and PAS will try to hold a vote later in the fall and use European loans for social initiatives to somehow cheer people up. But people won't believe it anymore.

— On February 3, the administration of US President Donald Trump suspended the work of USAID. After that, the implementation of a number of projects in Moldova stopped. How did this affect the republic?

— We knew that the money through USAID was used for such purposes as overthrowing, as they called it, the regimes of legal governments, financing the opposition, the media and NGOs, but we did not know that in such volumes.

Last year alone, several hundred million dollars were allocated for these purposes, which came as a shock to everyone. We have requested information from the Americans, and the current embassy is still silent. But we will insist, because this is the basis for annulling the presidential elections of last year and the referendum. That they were illegal and falsified is for sure, but if money from abroad was used there, then this is a violation of Moldovan legislation. This is also a reason to legally annul the presidential election and the referendum.

"Ukrainian children study in Russian schools"

— After the start of the SVR, a large flow of Ukrainian refugees headed to Moldova. What role do you see the republic playing in resolving this conflict?

— Ukraine is our neighbor, Moldova hosted hundreds of thousands of refugees, and tens of thousands remained in the republic. Russian Russian schools are being taught to Ukrainian children, and the number of students studying in Chisinau has increased. When I asked the mayor of Chisinau why, he said it was at the expense of Ukrainian children.

I think Moldova has something to say too, because we have hosted hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens. We must return our neutrality not only at the Constitutional level, but also militarily: to abandon some cargo for the Ukrainian army through Moldova.

— What are the minimum rights that Moldovans living in Ukraine should have?

— Learning their native language in schools and communicating in their native language in these areas and in the territories where they currently live are the minimum requirements.

"Most Moldovans will celebrate Victory Day"

— You have a rather difficult relationship with the country's leadership. Do you think the detention of your brother in February of this year is an attempt to intimidate or put pressure on you? And will such attempts be repeated again?

— More than 13 criminal cases have been opened against me and other Socialist leaders, and two of them are currently being tried. More than 20 meetings have been scheduled for the next two months in one case that has been initiated against me and is in court.

I think this pressure is on me and my relatives. What happened to my mom and my brother will continue, but we will withstand the blow, we have been holding it for all these three years.

— In 2023, the Moldovan authorities proposed to postpone the celebration of Victory Day to May 8 and rename it the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation. But the society reacted extremely negatively to this initiative...

— This is a great year for us. Moldovans fought in the ranks of the Red Army, which liberated Europe and won this war. We are the descendants of the winners, so we will celebrate Victory Day in Chisinau. We're going to have a big Victory march, and I think hundreds of thousands of people will attend it this year.

The government does not consider itself the descendants of the victors. But this is a minority, because the majority of Moldovans will celebrate Victory Day.

— Are you planning to visit Moscow to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Victory? Has there been an invitation from the Russian side?

— It would be right to organize important events in Chisinau, but our partners from the Russian Federation have asked if there is a desire to attend the Victory Day Parade. Of course, we responded positively.

I hope that the invitation will be valid and the delegation of the Party of Socialists will definitely visit Moscow on May 9. We will make a decision on the composition, because it is important to organize a Victory march here in Chisinau on a high level.