Dodon: The Gas Price Will Drop from $ 180 to $ 100 per Thousand Cubic Meters

By the fourth quarter of 2020, the gas price for Moldova will drop from $ 180 to $ 100 per thousand cubic meters, President Igor Dodon said on Friday. In response to a question from the financial and economic journal “Banks & Finances” - Profit about the predicted decrease in the price of natural gas in 2020, the president said that the prices have a steady downtrend, infotag.md reports. “We are currently negotiating with Gazprom. Starting this year, gas was imported at a price of $ 176 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, and since April 1, the price has dropped by another $ 10-15,” Dodon said. According to him, from July 1, the price will again decrease to about $ 135 per 1 thousand cubic meters. “The current contract with Gazprom is beneficial for Moldova. With a falling oil price, the price of natural gas is also reduced, which will allow us to reduce tariffs for domestic and industrial consumers in the country,” he said. Explaining why Bulgaria buys gas from Gazprom at $ 140 per 1,000 cubic meters, and Moldova at $ 176, the president said that Bulgaria imports gas at the current price, and Moldova’s contract determines the price of gas for the previous nine months. “In the summer, we will negotiate on republic’s possible transition to the purchase of natural gas at current prices on international markets,” Dodon said. Answering a question about the Russian loan in the amount of 200 million euros, the president said that, despite the difficult time, Russia will provide this loan to Moldova. It is already included in the Russian 2020 budget. “I spoke with Dmitry Kozak, and he said that Russia keeps its word, as promised, the loan will be provided," Dodon said, recalling that under the conditions with Russia, Moldova has the right to spend these funds at its discretion. He called on other countries to “help Moldova in this difficult time.” “Help us without special conditions, and we will be grateful for this,” said Dodon, citing as an example Russia, China and Switzerland, who are actively helping Moldova. Answering a journal’s question about the national currency devaluation, which leads to higher food prices, the president said that during this difficult time, the Moldovan leu will fall slightly. “Since the beginning of the year, the leu depreciated against the US dollar by 4-5%, while the currencies of other countries whose markets are used by Moldovan exporters to sell their products have depreciated much more. For example, the Russian ruble depreciated against the dollar by 17%, which makes it difficult for our exporters,” Dodon said. Once again, he recalled that the National Bank has enough foreign exchange reserves to support the Moldovan leu. The president did not agree that exports fell sharply. He said that deliveries to the CIS countries per day reach 40-50 million lei. “Export to the EU countries has fallen, due to the Free Economic Zones, where cable production has been established, due to the pandemic of the COVID-19 virus, only 7-10% of its capacity is working there,” Igor Dodon said. The president ruled out the option of “turning on the NBM machine to print lei”, since this leads to the release of money to the market that is not covered by anything. “In just three months, this will lead to a surge of inflation, rising prices, which will hurt the poor and unprotected segments of the population,” the president explained, categorically excluding the option of issuing money uncovered by goods.