Gazprom Has Started to Supply Gas to Moldova under a New Contract

The Russian energy company Gazprom on Monday, November 1, began gas supplies to Moldova under a new contract signed by the parties on October 29 for a five-year period. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spinu said that the gas price fixed in the new agreement for November is be $ 450 per thousand cubic meters, which, according to him, is twice lower than the market value, reports dw.com It is expected that in 2022 Chisinau will conduct an independent audit of the debt of Moldovagaz to Russia. As reported by Spinu, as soon as the amount of the debt is established, Moldova and the Russian Federation will organize negotiations at which they will determine the terms of settlement. Negotiations on gas supplies to Moldova On October 23, Gazprom's official representative Sergei Kupriyanov threatened that the Russian energy company could completely abandon gas supplies to Moldova if Chisinau does not repay the debt and does not agree on the terms of a new contract. At the same time, Kupriyanov pointed out that, according to Gazprom's calculations, Moldova's debt for gas supplied amounts to $433 million, and taking into account overdue payments, the total amount of debt increases to $709 million. Negotiations on the supply of Russian gas to Moldova lasted about a month. Prior to the conclusion of the current supply contract, the gas price for the republic was formed on a mixed principle, that is, it decreased with large volumes of purchases. This contract expired on September 30. Since the parties could not agree on new terms for a month, the old agreement was extended twice. Against the background of a shortage of gas in European storage facilities, the price of gas for Moldova in September jumped to $ 550 per thousand cubic meters. For comparison: at the beginning of the year it was 127 dollars per thousand cubic meters. On October 22, due to the threat of an energy crisis, the Moldovan authorities declared a state of emergency for 30 days.