Weekly Roundup: Russian Drone Crashes in Gagauzia
February 16, 2024
Shahed Drone Found Outside Gagauzian Village
On February 11th the remains of an Iranian style kamikaze drone were found by the border police in a field outside of the village of Etulia in Vulcanesti. The authorities are working on the assumption that the drone was shot down by Ukrainian air defenses during an attack on the Izmail region on the night of February 9th - 10th.
Following the cordoning off of the site sappers found 50kg of active explosives in the wreckage of the drone. Experts noted that this was enough to destroy a house or seriously damage a group of houses or an apartment building should it have fallen on a populated area. Police proceeded to destroy the explosives in a controlled detonation (video at link).
Following the news, President Sandu called out Russian aggression and continued regional threats saying:
“Russia’s war with Ukraine has again come close to home in Moldova. The discovery of the remains of a Shahed drone in southern Moldova today was another stark reminder of the grim reality we face. Russia's aggression threatens the entire continent. It is necessary to continue to support Ukraine,”
Prime Minister Recean commented on the event in the context of the country’s attempts to build an air defense system. He noted that the first radar purchased by Moldova from a French defense contractor is not able to detect drones on such low altitude trajectories. The radar can detect threats operating at altitudes over 2000 meters. He went on to explain that a full air defense system for the country would cost “several billion euros” which Moldova cannot afford, but that the country is continuing to collaborate with partners. He explained that this would be a multi stage process saying:
“We started with the first stage, which we can afford with the help of Western partners. Our goal is to provide a system that fully covers the needs of timely detection of these missiles, drones, etc. So that at the first stage we can warn citizens about the danger in time for their evacuation. In the next phase, we will invest money in building the capability to shoot down these missiles or drones,”
The Prime Minister explained that as new capabilities are acquired, priority will be given to critical infrastructure such as airports, rail junctions and power stations. In time coverage will be rolled out nationally. The Prime Minister did not provide an expected timeline for these additional stages.
The situation resulted in tense exchanges in parliament with Socialist MPs demanding hearings to question the Minister of Defense on why the radar could not detect the drones and generally calling into question the wisdom of military spending in times like these. PAS MP Andrian Cheptonar responded noting the decades long underinvestment in defense and asking the socialists to address their complaints to Russia saying:
“I suggest that he address this issue to his supervisors, to Putin. Ask what this drone was doing near the borders of Moldova, whose is it, did it fly to kill people, innocent Ukrainians? Your question, Mr. Deputy, should be addressed to the owners of the party you represent, and not to the Moldovan government,”
Security and International Affairs News
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the other leading security and international affairs news of the week:
Arson reported at the NATO Information Center. Last week an unknown perpetrator set fire to the doors of the NATO Information Center in Chisinau located on the grounds of Moldova State University. Damage to the building was minimal as fire fighters responded to the blaze quickly. The US Embassy “strongly condemned” the act of violence.
Moldovan Army Special Forces Battalion Fulger participated in mountain warfare trainings with Romanian colleagues. The trainings involved live fire exercises and operations in rugged terrain including on skis.
Moldova sends 33 soldiers to participate in the UNIFIL-2 UN Peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Just as with Moldova’s deployments with KFOR soldiers will serve as part of the Italian contingent. The Ministry of Defense announced this as a deployment of “well trained” troops “compatible with the military of other armies.” The deployment includes 3 female soldiers.
The Institute for the Study of War ISW released a report which suggested that Russia is setting conditions in the information space for “escalation against Moldova.” The report analyzed Russian media and disinformation efforts as well as posturing in Transnistria and assessed the messaging as “very similar to those that the Kremlin used before its invasions of Ukraine.” The report concluded that “The timing of a possible Russian hybrid operation in Moldova is unclear, but the Kremlin is setting informational conditions to make it possible soon.”
Israel has been criticized for a photo of a supposed refugee support camp they built to support the people of Gaza. Euronews reported that part of a video from the Israeli government purporting to show refugee support work was actually film of a Moldovan refugee support center set up on the border with Ukraine in February 2022. The Israeli government responded on Twitter saying that the video in question was only meant for "illustration purposes."
Political Updates
Farmers have resumed protests and on February 12th used tractors to block the Leuseni-Albitsa border crossing with Romania. The blockage resulted in 230 cars being re-routed, 136 trucks and 130 bus passengers getting stranded at the border. Blockages at the border continued on February 13th with the Farmer’s Power Association demanding at least 400 million lei in urgent financial support to farmers and threatening continued closing of border crossings and highways until the government listens to them.
The association says that farmers demands differ by region, but that all farmers agree on the need for urgent financial aid and for the rapid delivery of free diesel fuel promised by Romania last year. Minister of Agriculture Bolea gave an interview explaining that the reason the fuel has not yet been delivered is that "the State does not even have two cans in which to store diesel fuel, let alone a national reserve." He stated that only a few companies in Moldova have storage space for this fuel and that following multiple rounds of public tenders and direct negotiations no solution has been found.
The fuel was offered by Romania due to the drought conditions in 2022 and 1490 farmers were accepted into the subsidy program at an average of 35 liters / hectare.
Parliament held hearings with the Minister of Agriculture who defended the government’s actions in allocating around 6 billion lei of farm subsidies over the last 3 years, 70% of which were given to small and micro sized farm enterprises. The Minister explained that the crisis in agriculture exists in the whole Black Sea region where grain prices have fallen while prices for diesel fuel and fertilizers have risen considerably. Marina Tauber, formerly of the dissolved Shor party, demanded the minister account for the fact that the government has spent more in the last year on augmenting defense spending than on farmers. Minister Bolea responded saying:
“I am sure that the homes, farms and property of farmers need to be protected, so investments in the development of the army are [important] and inevitable,”
Other questions from Shor-affiliated MPs focused on spreading disinformation about Ukrainian grain dumping on the Moldovan market and other suggestions that Moldova spend less on defense.
Justice Reform
Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gherasimov stated that Moldova will send a delegation to Brussels in late February to begin the process of evaluating Moldovan legislation for EU compliance. Commenting on the first priorities she said:
“The first chapter with which we will begin the assessment is justice. The speed of European integration depends on how quickly we clean up the justice system. Justice works in a European state; the rules are the same for everyone. This is exactly what we want for European Moldova,”
The key strategy for the “cleaning up” of the justice system is the process of “vetting” which is ongoing since Summer 2023. This week Newsmaker journalists conducted interviews with members of the vetting commission and looked, in part, at why the process is proceeding so slowly. The vetting commission is comprised of 3 local and 3 foreign experts. Of the local experts, 2 are appointed by the government and one by the opposition. Foreign experts were suggested by Moldova’s development partners and include:
Scott Bales, former Chief Justice of Arizona (USA)
Maria Giuliana Civinini, former judge (Italy)
Lavly Perling, former Prosecutor General of Estonia
Currently the vetting process is still at the “first stage” which is the assessment of judges and candidates to be judges on the Supreme Court of Justice SCJ. Once the vetting commission creates a report on the integrity of the judge in question it is sent to the Superior Council of Magistracy for a decision. If the judge does not like this decision it is appealed to the SCJ.
This week the vetting commission passed SCJ judge Alena Miron and candidates for the SCJ Sergiu Brigai and Viorica Puica. In this sense the process is moving forward, but vetting of the remaining SCJ judges is expected to take some months. This is only the first step in what will be a multi-year process of vetting the rest of the country’s judges.
In order to create a supporting mechanism that could take action in cases of blatant wrong-doing President Sandu has called on parliament to create a new Anti-Corruption Court, but to date there has been little movement on this front. Outgoing Chair of the Parliamentary Legal Committee Olesea Stamate sniped at her colleagues in PAS on this and other issues in an interview aired on N4 this week. Discussing the Anti-Corruption Court and taking aim at the president, Stamate stated:
“Ask the president why the court did not start working three months after its creation. …”
She also commented on PAS’s failure to appoint a General Prosecutor and failed to refute rumors (currently unfounded) of corruption in tenders related to airport concessions.
Fractures between Stamate and other members of PAS (not to mention civil society groups) have been growing for nearly a year. At the same time, it is extremely rare for a member of PAS to place blame at President Sandu’s feet for any policy issue.
The slow vetting process, unclear status of the Anti-Corruption Court and internal battles are likely to pose challenges as Moldova faces new EU scrutiny on the justice system.
Other Political News
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the leading political news of the week:
Mayor Ceban calls the repeat elections in Bubuieci “illegal.” Initially the election in the small town near Chisinau was won by a MAN party candidate, but he was later disqualified by the Central Election Commission CEC for (allegedly) not having a valid high school diploma. The candidate claimed he lost his diploma and then presented a certificate from Chisinau City Hall (run by the MAN party). The dispute went to court where the CEC was initially overturned but then won on appeal. In repeat elections that PAS candidate won the race but turnout fell from 37% to 22%. Following the win, PAS mayor elect Alexey Perchemly was reported to be under investigation for corruption in a 2020 case. He admitted the charges but proclaims his innocence. Prosecutors did not comment on the allegations.
The Communist Party has announced plans to boycott the referendum on EU integration. Communist party leadership announced that the referendum’s only purpose is the bolster turnout for President Sandu and called on supporters to boycott. It is unclear if they intend to boycott the presidential elections as well or to ask voters to cast a ballot in one race but not the other.
Ilan Shor continues his meeting in Russia. Shor met this week with the Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev explaining that he intends to create a new NGO in Moldova advocating the country join the Eurasian Economic Community. Shor claimed that the moves towards the EU in the last 3 years have set the country’s development back by 20 years. Additionally Shor gave an interview to Russian state media and indicated that he was considering moving to Russia noting that his wife and children already live there. Meanwhile, Russia has refused requests from Interpol to extradite Shor citing various reasons dismissed by experts as nonsensical.
Economics and Infrastructure News
Here’s a rapid fire roundup of the leading economics and infrastructure news of the week:
The Court of Accounts released a report on MoldTelecom’s management. The auditing body looked at the operations of the state company over 2020 - 2022 and found multiple serious challenges. Revenue at the company was up 22% over the period but costs increased by 41% and net profit fell 2x. The company is still charging customers the same amount for landline services as it did in 2004 - resulting in losses of over 1 billion lei in the audit period. Since last summer the company has had permission to raise these rates, but in the paradox faced by all state companies the decision to do so might be politically dangerous. Landlines are primarily used now by elderly customers on fixed incomes. The audit also found that while the company owns most of the communications backbone infrastructure in the company it is undercharging competitors for access to these resources. Finally, multiple cases of potential fraud in procurements were noted.
Will MoldTelecom be privatized? Yes, no…. uhhh I confused punctuation. The director of the Public Property Agency included MoldTelecom on a list of companies to be privatized after reorganization this week. Following the breaking of this news (and public outcry) he immediately backtracked and stated that he had “put the comma in the wrong place” and that the company will remain state owned.
Minister of Infrastructure Spinu stated that a new Director of the National Railways will be appointed soon. The Minister claims that the government is close to finding money to pay the back wages and that debts to employees will be closed by the end of February or in early March. No explanation of where this money would come from was offered.
Air Moldova still owes 75,000 people ticket refunds. The company continues to work through the bankruptcy process after abruptly ceasing operations late last Spring. Minister Spinu announced that the government is considering legislation that would move ticket holders to the front of the line in liquidation proceedings.
The EU has announced that it does not intend to extend trilateral gas transit agreements with Russia for natural gas supplied via Ukraine. The EU currently imports 12 billion cubic meters of gas / year from Russia, down from 155 billion cubic meters of gas / year before the invasion. The EU’s stated intention of ending this transit relationship, largely because they do not need the gas anymore, highlights the precarious situation for Transnistria next December. Currently Moldova “buys” 2 billion cubic meters of gas / year which all goes to Transnistria. This gas is used by the MoldGRES power plant to generate 80% of the electricity used in the rest of Moldova. Speaking of the prospects and consequences of a total shutoff, Minister Parlicov stated:
"We understand that there will be no electricity for the Right Bank almost immediately. Therefore, we are working on scenarios that we will need to help the Left Bank. It will be necessary to help, because there are 250-300 thousand people there, the vast majority of whom are citizens of the Republic of Moldova, who will need to be taken care of,”
Read more on this topic in our September 2023 article “Transnistria is in a Pickle”