“Moldovagaz” called the current contract with “Gazprom” profitable

CHISINAU, 13 Oct – PRIME. For Moldova, the current contract with Gazprom is beneficial, given the unpredictability of the gas market, Vadim Cheban, head of the Moldovagaz enterprise, said on Thursday.

Earlier, Gazprom announced that it reserves the right to completely stop gas supplies to Moldova if the country violates its payment obligations by October 20, and also because of a gross violation of the deadlines for concluding an agreement to settle the historical debt of Moldovagaz JSC.

“We now have a profitable contract with Gazprom. We hope that there will be no big shocks in the natural gas market. But it is very unpredictable what the market will be like,” Cheban said on Thursday on the Rlive online platform.

Moldova is experiencing an energy crisis due to rising energy prices. The authorities intend to reduce gas consumption in winter by at least 15%, and have also developed and submitted for discussion a plan that includes turning off street lighting, lowering the central heating temperature, transferring schoolchildren and students to distance learning. Since August, Moldovagaz has been cutting off consumers who have not paid on time for services for the supply of natural gas.

In October last year, the Moldovan authorities agreed with Gazprom to extend the contract for the supply of gas to the republic, subject to an audit of the Moldovagaz debt in 2022. Gazprom said that, taking into account the situation in Moldova, it was decided to sign the contract practically on the terms of the Moldovan side, but subject to timely 100% payment of current payments.