Moldovan President Maia Sandu said at a meeting with representatives of the Gagauzian “Women’s Association” in the village of Kongaz that the government will officially announce next week that the country does not owe Gazprom $800 million. His words were quoted by the publication “Moldavskie Vedomosti”.
“We wanted to cheat quickly. They left us without gas. Winter is coming,” said Sandu.
He claims Moldova was forced to sign a document under which the country pledged to pay $800 million over four years. The president described this amount as “horribly large money”, so officials could not agree to these terms. At the same time, during 30 years of cooperation with the Russian side, Moldova did not try to buy gas from elsewhere.
“If gas is only sold by the monopolist, that’s not normal. And they (representatives of the Russian side. – socialbites.ca) said that we cannot change the law in two months in order to find new contracts. “It was an ugly situation for them,” Sandu said.
How much is Moldova’s gas debt?
It is learned that the contract will be extended by five years in the fall of 2021. “Gazprom” and “Moldovagaz” for gas supply from Russia. The parties agreed that the cost of natural fuel will change every month depending on the foreign currency prices. Also Chisinau acceptance pay off outstanding debts.
According to this TASSThe total amount of Moldova’s gas debt is $709 million ($433 million is the debt itself, the rest is penalties for late payments). Country Chamber of Accounts evaluates debt of $590.8 million.
In April of this year, Moldovan Energy Minister Viktor Parlikov knowledgeable about the authorities’ decision to withdraw two foreign companies (Norwegian Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and British Forensic Risk Alliance & Co). Limited – for auditing past debts.
“The results of the audit are already available, but when we analyze them carefully, they will be made available to the public. This is related to the nature of the debts. Based on the findings of this audit, we will decide how the situation with Gazprom will be resolved. Can we say that the results of the audit are interesting?” knowledgeable official.
According to him, the cost of the check was 1.15 million euros.
Gazprom may not recognize audit results
A source from Moldovagaz’s board told the agency, on condition of anonymity: information tagThere are great fears that the audit results will not be recognized by Gazprom.
This may be because the Norwegian company Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS has in the past helped Ukraine resolve its dispute with Gazprom in an international arbitration court. The Russian company later lost.
“The real reason for the debt, which is $ 709 million according to the balance sheet of Moldovagaz, will not be disclosed by the government of the Republic of Moldova, but by the company’s management,” the source said.
100 percent dependency on Russian gas…
Moldovan energy sector until 2022 practically We are 100 percent dependent on Russian gas. The gas was transferred legally between Moldovagaz and Gazprom; Gazprom owns 50% of the Moldovan gas distribution company.
Until 2011, the cost of gas was calculated according to a special European formula that took into account the dynamics of fuel prices in the world market. Since 2012, the contract has been renewed every year based on bilateral agreements.
At the end of 2016, the contract stipulated that the cost of the purchase price be calculated on a quarterly basis, taking into account the price offers for petroleum products. In 2019, the former president of the republic, Igor Dodon, agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a discount. Its size was 10-15 dollars per thousand cubic meters.
On September 30, 2021, the gas supply contract expired. During the negotiations, Gazprom began to insist on the repayment of $ 709 million of debt (excluding Transnistria debt). At the same time, the Russian company gave Moldova a debt relief by offering to buy gas at a 25 percent discounted market price. Chisinau refused to recognize the debt. Then the negotiations stalled.
During the negotiations, Gazprom supplied gas to the republic at market price for two months. Later, the Russian company announced that it was ready to extend the contract for November if Moldova paid for the September and October deliveries. For the signing of a new agreement, the republic had to assume its obligations to repay the debt.
…to emergency and alternative suppliers
After that, part of Moldovan enterprises switched to fuel oil, the country has an emergency regime: it was initially implemented due to gas shortages in the country, which is explained by the risks arising from the situation in Ukraine at the moment. Moldova began to look for alternative suppliers and bought small quantities of fuel from Poland, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
In November 2022, Gazprom threatened to cut He supplied gas to Moldova because he thought the fuel was stored in Ukraine.
In May this year, Prime Minister Dorin Recean aforementionedThe country does not consume gas from Russia, as it is integrated into the European energy network.
In June 2023, the Minister of Energy said on the air of the Parlikov TV channel: TV8It is stated that there is no point in Moldova buying more natural gas from the Russian company Gazprom.
“Even if Gazprom’s prices are lower, it is quite possible that the quantities they will supply will not be sufficient,” Parlikov said. said.