The Russian energy company “Gazprom” on Monday, November 1, began gas supplies to Moldova under a new contract signed by the parties on October 29 for a period of five years.
Earlier, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said that the gas price, enshrined in the new agreement, will amount to $ 450 per thousand cubic meters in November, which, according to him, is two times lower than the market price.
Chisinau is expected to conduct an independent audit of Moldovagaz’s debt to Russia in 2022. According to Spinu, as soon as the amount of the debt is established, Moldova and the Russian Federation will organize negotiations, during which they will determine the timing of the settlement.
Negotiations on gas supplies to Moldova
On October 23, the official representative of Gazprom, Sergei Kupriyanov, threatened that the Russian energy company could completely refuse gas supplies to Moldova if Chisinau does not pay off the debt and does not agree on the terms of a new contract. At the same time, Kupriyanov pointed out that, according to Gazprom’s estimates, Moldova’s debt for the supplied gas is $ 433 million, and taking into account the delay in payments, the total amount of debt increases to 709 million.
Negotiations on the supply of Russian gas to Moldova lasted for about a month. Prior to the conclusion of the current supply contract, the gas price for the republic was formed according to a mixed principle, that is, it decreased with large volumes of purchases. This contract expired on September 30th. Since the parties could not agree on new conditions within a month, the old agreement was extended twice.
Against the background of a shortage of gas in European storage facilities, the price of gas for Moldova in September jumped to $ 550 per thousand cubic meters. For comparison: at the beginning of the year it was $ 127 per thousand cubic meters.
On October 22, due to the threat of an energy crisis, the Moldovan authorities declared a state of emergency for 30 days.
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