His country is immersed in a gas crisis. But Nicu Popescu is trying to remain positive.
"On Monday our country made history," Moldova's foreign minister tells me. "For the first time Moldova bought gas from a source that was not Russia's Gazprom."
The gas shipment from Poland's PGNiG was one million cubic metres.
Moldova will need much larger volumes if Gazprom does what it has threatened to do: turn off the gas taps.
Up till now 100% of Moldova's gas has come from Russia. But the contract to supply it expired at the end of September. Gazprom raised the price and Moldova balked at paying it. In the absence of a new deal, the Russian energy giant reduced supplies, prompting Moldova to declare a 30-day state of emergency. Gazprom accused Moldova of "provoking a crisis" and demanded repayment of a $709m (£514m) debt, which Moldova disputes.
Negotiations continue. Moldovan officials say they would like to sign a new contract with Gazprom, but only if the terms are favourable.
If there is no deal with Russia, could Moldova, one of Europe's poorest countries, buy enough gas elsewhere?
"It's the worst time to have a gas crisis at home," Mr Popescu admits. "The prices are higher than ever. We see this market crunch on a global scale. But we've had support. In recent years Romania built a new gas pipeline into Moldova which gives us a safety valve. We've also had some advice from the European Union on how to diversify a country's gas supply within a few days."