Moldovan authorities have decided to return the oil depot at Chișinău Airport to state ownership, after it had been under the control of Russia’s Lukoil since 2005, citing risks to national security, Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu said.
The decision to nationalize the facility was taken by the Council for the Review of Investments of Importance to State Security. The Council refused to approve the further investment activities of Lukoil Moldova and ordered the company to transfer all assets of the Aeroport oil and fuel complex to state ownership.
“In 20 days, the state of the Republic of Moldova will become the owner of the airport fuel infrastructure,” PM Munteanu said.
The government noted that returning the terminal to state ownership is necessary to ensure uninterrupted aviation fuel supplies and to protect critical infrastructure. At the same time, the competent authorities will review the circumstances under which the oil terminal was transferred to Lukoil in 2005.
This decision follows the moves by the Romanian and Bulgarian governments to take control of Lukoil’s assets in their respective countries.
No such decisions are being made in Serbia, however.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that negotiations on the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) are underway. Speaking at a roundtable for ambassadors in Moscow, he emphasized that under the intergovernmental agreement between Serbia and Russia, nationalization of NIS is only possible with Russia’s consent.
Apparently, Moldavia, Romania, and Bulgaria didn’t care much about Lavrov’s opinion on these matters. Guess that’s why those three countries are not Leaders of the Region, like Serbia.
The Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, also offered some of his invaluable insights.
“The Serbians are currently being pressured – they are being forced to abandon cooperation with Russian companies, which are responsible and efficient partners that contribute significantly to strengthening Serbia’s socio-economic stability and energy security,” Botsan-Kharchenko told the Sputnik news agency.
His Excellency, Plenipotentiary and Very Importantly added that the “theft of Russian assets is also motivated by an intent to block any search for a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis. The plan is to redirect these illegally obtained funds toward the further arming of Ukraine.”
Well, there’s “theft” of Russian assets in Europe and actual Russian theft of Ukrainian children.
But the Russian ambassador is not the only person blaming Europe for everything in existence.
According to Slobodan Georgiev, Nova TV news director, who commented on the letter sent to the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe, and international journalists’ organizations, warning of development that pose a risk to their editorial independence: “…And we want to inform everyone about it, including Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa, Donald Trump, and Keir Starmer… Everyone in the world needs to know that if they do nothing, they are participating in this project to shut down the only free media in Serbia.”
Yup, everything everywhere is Europe’s fault, somehow.
But let’s get back to the issue at hand.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said that the Russians are finalizing talks about selling their stake in the Oil Company of Serbia (NIS) to a large company.
“I think that the negotiations between the Russian side and a large company are coming to an end. They have to talk with us as well, and by Monday or Tuesday, we should hold tripartite trilateral talks and close that story,” said Vučić.
“I’m not very optimistic about this, but I am optimistic, nonetheless. Until OFAC approves a certain transaction, I don’t know where we stand,” said Vučić.
He added that “it depends on the Americans, unfortunately, because it has nothing to do with interests, law, and justice.“
Serbianism 