Gazprom notified the Moldovan side that gas supplies to the country could be stopped on Wednesday, November 24, due to Chisinau's failure to fulfill its contractual obligations under the agreement concluded at the end of October.
This was announced by the official representative of the company Sergey Kupriyanov.
He recalled that Gazprom had been negotiating with Moldova for a long time on the extension of the contract for the supply of blue fuel.
Moreover, if the proposals of the Russian side were "absolutely market-based", then in Chisinau they insisted on more preferential pricing for themselves.
“Bearing in mind the difficult, very difficult situation in the economic and financial situation of Moldova, guided by the desire to preserve the possibility for Moldova to pay off its debt obligations to Gazprom, as well as the position of the President of Russia, to whom the Moldovan side has repeatedly asked for assistance, Gazprom accepted the decision to sign a contract practically on the terms of the Moldovan side, but with an essential and important point: Moldova pays 100% of current payments on time, "Kupriyanov said.
“The next deadline for current payments is today, November 22.
There is no payment.
In this regard, today "Gazprom" notified the Moldovan side, in accordance with the terms of the contract, that in 48 hours gas supplies to Moldova will be stopped, "said the representative of the gas company.
Gazprom is extremely disappointed with Moldova's failure to fulfill its contractual obligations, ”added Kuriyanov.
Commenting on this message, the press service of Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu, who was negotiating with a Russian company on a new contract, initially told TASS that the Moldovan side had not received a notification from Gazprom about the possible termination of gas supplies.
However, later Spinu, in an interview with the Deschide.md portal, confirmed that the notification had been received by the Moldovagaz company, and on Tuesday, November 23, he intends to comment on the situation after the authorities familiarize themselves with the document.
In turn, the press service of JSC Moldovagaz explained that the payment obligations indicated in Gazprom were not fulfilled on time, since in October 2021 the company “experienced a deficit in the balance of payments due to an increase in the purchase price for natural gas".
Representatives of the company assured that the work on resolving the incident is ongoing.
“We express our confidence that with the support of the state authorities of the Republic of Moldova, this issue will be resolved as soon as possible,” the company said.
Later, the head of Moldovagaz, Vadim Cheban, said that he had turned to the government and the National Commission for Emergency Situations for help.
According to him, the company owes 1.3 billion lei (about $ 74 million), RIA Novosti reports.
New contract
Let us remind you that a new five-year contract for gas supplies to Moldova was signed on October 29.
The agreement was reached shortly after the parliament of the republic introduced a state of emergency in the country due to the energy crisis.
The previous agreement expired on September 30, 2021.
The contract was temporarily extended for a month, after which the republic imported Russian gas at a market price (about $ 790 per 1,000 cubic meters).
According to media reports, during the negotiations, the Moldovan side insisted on a significant reduction in prices relative to the market.
Gazprom, on the other hand, offered a market price and an additional discount of 25%, demanding in return to pay off the debt accumulated for Moldova within three years.
The amount owed, taking into account the overdue payment as of October 23, was $ 709 million.
Also on russian.rt.com "Moldovagaz" announced payment of debt to "Gazprom" for fuel supplies in September
In connection with the current situation, analysts draw attention to the fact that Moscow has already met Chisinau halfway on the issue of the gas contract.
As Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Russian government and a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, noted in an interview with RT, the contract was initially discussed on conditions less favorable for the Moldovan side.
“Initially, a contract was discussed with reference to the spot market, which would give Moldova a much higher price: it would be under $ 700 per 1,000 cubic meters now.
Moldova itself said: let's get a spot peg, and when prices in the spot markets became high in 2021, they said: “No, no, give us back the oil-pegged contract,” he recalled.
"Gazprom made the most concessions, but Moldova still does not pay: neither for the old debt, nor for new supplies," Yushkov said.
According to him, Gazprom is trying to stop this practice of non-payment.
"It is impossible to supply Moldova with gas for free ... Therefore, Gazprom is trying to give a clear signal: as before, we are not going to write down" on credit "for months and years," the expert noted.
In turn, political scientist Ruslan Balbek stressed that the Russian side has demonstrated a European approach to doing business.
“I am sure that if there were some European company in the place of Gazprom, it would behave in the same way.
I would not be surprised if tomorrow the leadership of Moldova begins to put pressure on pity and remember our common Soviet past, '' said the interlocutor of RT.
"But now are different times, and our country lives in the same market economy as the EU, which means that in the morning money is chairs in the evening."