Spinu: Moldova May Sign a Long-Term Gas Supply Contract with Azerbaijan

Moldova is considering the possibility of signing a long-term gas supply contract with Azerbaijan. This was reported by the Azerbaijani news agency Trend, referring to the speech of Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu on one of the TV channels, infotag.md reports. “The Moldovan government braces itcself for emergencies. We are now discussing the signature of a long-term gas supply contract with Romania and Azerbaijan,” he said. The deputy prime minister said that “Moldova is connected to the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), and this offers more opportunities, including for purchases from Romania or other EU countries, but obviously at very high prices. “Moldova has reserves of 35 million cubic meters of gas, which are enough for a maximum of 10 days in winter. However, this period is enough for the authorities to find gas from other sources in case of emergency”, he believes. Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor started on December 31, 2020. Thus, Azerbaijan has diversified its export opportunities as the corridor provides direct access to the European market, the world’s largest importer of natural gas. The TAP (Trans Adriatic Pipeline), the European part of the Southern Gas Corridor, delivers 8 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Italy and 1 billion to Greece and Bulgaria.