Moldova has signed a contract for a trial purchase of 1 million cubic meters of gas from the Polish energy company PGNiG.

This is stated in a message on the website of the Moldovan Cabinet.

The government of the country noted that Moldova for the first time purchased fuel from an alternative source.

It is noted that such a decision was made to assess the possibility of imports from other suppliers, as well as to balance the low pressure in the natural gas supply system.

They added that the tariff for consumers will remain unchanged.

The Cabinet added that the republic continues to negotiate with the Russian Federation and Gazprom to sign a long-term agreement on the supply of natural gas.

“In the context of decreasing pressure in the national distribution network, purchasing from alternative sources allows us to preserve the supply of natural gas to consumers,” the message says.

At the same time, PGNiG noted that the company had won a tender for the supply of 1 million cubic meters.

m of gas to Moldova together with the American-Ukrainian company Energy Resources of Ukraine.

“This is the result of a tender for a one-time supply of gas fuel, announced by the state-owned company Energocom.

The tender was organized urgently in connection with the reduction in gas supplies to Moldova from "Gazprom", - leads TASS statement PGNiG.

It is specified that gas will be delivered through a checkpoint on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.

Earlier, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, during a briefing for journalists, noted that Moscow expects to continue the dialogue with Chisinau on the issue of gas supplies.

“We need to continue the dialogue somehow.

All positions are well understood: the position of the Russian side, Gazprom, is extremely clear, extremely simple.

This is a commercial item that includes known discounts.

Therefore, of course, we hope that the conversation will continue one way or another, ”the Kremlin spokesman explained.

At the same time, he noted that President Vladimir Putin does not yet have any plans for contacts with the Moldovan leadership on this topic.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure of Moldova Andrei Spinu, during a press conference following the talks in Moscow, confirmed that Energocom is looking for additional sources of gas purchases from other suppliers to meet the needs of the republic, while negotiations are underway on a new contract with Gazprom.

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He noted that the next round of negotiations with the company is scheduled for October 27 in St. Petersburg.

He described the negotiations as difficult, but stressed that Moldova wants to sign a long-term contract with Gazprom.

In addition, he said that the government of the republic intends to conduct an independent audit of historical debts to Gazprom before admitting its obligations on them.

According to him, the commercial debt to the Russian company has been heating up since 1994 and Chisinau is ready to discuss it.

“On Wednesday, I will go to St. Petersburg, where a meeting with the head of the Russian company Alexei Miller is planned,” Spynu said.

Meanwhile, Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban, speaking at a briefing after the meeting of the municipal commissions for emergencies and public health, criticized the country's government for not having a plan to overcome the energy crisis.

“It is not clear whether we will have gas and at what price.

Even we do not understand who will compensate for the rise in prices for socially vulnerable segments of the population, "he said, adding that" the crisis is evident, but the authorities pretend that nothing is happening. "

As a reminder, on September 30, Moldova and Russia extended the gas supply contract for one month.

On October 23, the official representative of Gazprom, Sergei Kupriyanov, said that the company could stop gas supplies to Moldova if Chisinau does not pay off the debt for fuel.

The company representative noted that the difficult situation with gas supplies to the country was the fault of the republican authorities.

According to him, the republic has accumulated a debt for the already supplied gas.

The amount owed is $ 433 million, and taking into account the delay in payments, the total amount is $ 709 million.

“We are talking about the crisis of non-payments on the part of Moldova for Russian gas,” Kupriyanov explained, stressing that Gazprom cannot operate at a loss.

Earlier, the Moldovan authorities introduced a high alert regime in the field of energy in the country so that the relevant institutions could take measures to protect the country's energy security.

On October 22, the Moldovan parliament introduced a state of emergency in the country due to a gas shortage.