Sturza: I think gas prices will grow exponentially

Ex-Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, businessman Ion Sturza in an interview with the "Free Europe," commented on the Moldovagaz’ statement that gas prices could rise in winter. According to him, the price growth will hit the economy, energy and citizens, as europalibera.org reports. "It is no longer possible to hope that prices will not grow! Moreover, I think that they will grow exponentially, maybe twice, or even more...", the Ex-Prime Minister noted. He named the reasons why prices may rise. "There are two points at once. The first one, of course, is objective, connected with the international market. Republic of Moldova could not do much in this field. The second one is the Chisinau policy toward Gazprom. There are no opportunities to find alternative supplies. It is not just about alternative supplies, but formulas of supplies. We have focused only on a fixed contract, which at certain moments can be extremely profitable, like today, when prices in the market are much higher... However, conditions can also be extremely disastrous, like last year, when prices were almost twice higher than on the international market. In general, we need a reasonable mix of commercial tools, but this will only appear when an alternative emerges. Unfortunately, today we have only one direction. It is from the Russian Federation. Accordingly, we are completely dependent on negotiations with Gazprom," Sturza added. The Ex-Prime Minister also noted "Russia is playing tough." “It stifled supplies to Europe during the period of maximum consumption and forced to raise the spot price with immediate delivery almost 10 times - compared to the same period last year. Thus, now Russia supplies Europe with relatively less gas, but receives much. This is a consequence of discussions on transit through Ukraine, issues of "Nord Stream". This is a political dispute. There is a rejection of the US to deliver liquefied gas to offset the volumes that are not supplied by the Russian Federation. This is also a consequence of the exponential rise in gas prices in Asia. So there is a negative international situation for everyone, and we are no exception, "the Ex-Prime Minister added. In addition, he noted that gas supplies from Iasi could be carried out in full only after the rebuilding of the infrastructure. “I have already said that many did not notice one nuance. There is no gas in Iasi! Iasi consume gas amount of one billion cubic meters per year. It transported through the national gas system of Romania. This does not allow delivering gas to the Republic of Moldova. For doing this, the infrastructure of the Romanian side must be rebuilt and modernized, including the construction of a compressor station. This means an investment of about 22-25 million euros. I have no information that the construction of this station has started, "Sturza summed up.