Three objections from Gazprom
“Gazprom” stated that Chisinau opposes the offer to pay 8.6 million dollars out of 709 million dollars of “Moldovagaz”‘s debt to the Russian energy company. declaration in the press service of the enterprise.
Gazprom categorically disagrees with the statements of the Moldovan side and intends to continue to defend its rights in every possible way.
According to the published statement, the inspection mentioned by Chisinau was not approved by the Moldovagaz supervisory board, contrary to the agreement between Gazprom and the Moldovan government.
Tender terms for the purchase of the auditor and his services, as stated in the company, were determined by the country’s Council of Ministers alone. Gazprom and Moldovagaz did not participate. In addition, since the amount of debt is regularly confirmed in documents signed by both companies and in international arbitration awards, the auditor’s conclusions cannot affect the size and validity of the debt.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote: Telegram– The channel of the department about the current situation, where the Russian company has been a reliable supplier of energy resources for decades.
“We call on official Chisinau to take a similarly responsible approach in fulfilling its obligations and refrain from politicizing practical issues of bilateral cooperation, including the energy sector,” the diplomat said.
How did Moldova reduce its debt by 99%?
President Maia Sandu at the end of last week knowledgeable said that an international auditing company could not find a loan of $ 800 million to Gazprom in the republic.
Moldovan Cabinet on the morning of September 6 introduced According to the report of audit companies (Norway Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and British Forensic Risk Association & Co), Gazprom was offered a payment of $8.6 million; that’s less than 1% of the $709 million debt. ($433 million – principal, the remainder – interest on late payments).
According to the estimates of Energy Minister Viktor Parlikov, $276 million of this amount has not been documented by either Moldovagaz or Gazprom, and the other $400 million cannot be recovered due to statute of limitations.
Igor Grosu, chairman of the parliament of the republic and head of the ruling Party for Action and Solidarity accepted opportunity to apply to an international court for resolution of the dispute.
“We always acted with the principle that we pay for what we consume. “We will not pay for what we do not consume, and we will present all the necessary arguments in international examples,” he said.
Making evaluations on the audit results, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said, reportedthat the country will not pay its debt:
“The Republic of Moldova will not pay debts that do not exist, and citizens of Moldova, of course, should not pay these bills.”
The essence of the dispute
Gazprom and Moldovagaz signed gas supply agreements for five years in 2011, then in 2016 and in the fall of 2021. Two years ago, Gazprom agreed to extend the contract on the condition that Moldova repay $709 million in debt from previous periods. The Russian company also demanded timely payment for future deliveries.
Chisinau signed the agreement, which will confirm the amount of debt, subject to an independent audit. In November 2022, the Moldovan Chamber of Accounts reported a debt of $590.8 million after the audit.
It turned out that this amount, as stated in Chisinau, was not paid due to unrecognized Transnistria, which allegedly did not pay for materials for years.
In November 2022, Gazprom threatened to reduce the volume of supplies to Moldova due to the “settlement” of part of the raw materials on the territory of Ukraine. In December Chisinau temporarily refused gas supplies from Russia, and in March Vadim Cheban, head of Moldovagaz declaration about their renewal. In May, Prime Minister Recean announced that the country is no longer dependent on Russian gas as it is connected to the European energy grid.