Parlicov: Moldova Cannot Annul the Contract with Gazprom Now

At the moment Moldova cannot terminate the contract with Gazprom for natural gas supply used to provide energy in Transdniestria, in order to avoid humanitarian crisis in the region. This was stated by the Minister of Energy of Chisinau, Victor Parlikov, in an interview with the Romanian media, realitatea.md reports. Parlicov explained that at the moment Romania supplies only 3 percent of the electricity consumed by Moldova, while most of the energy comes from the Cuciurgan power plant in Transdniestria. With regard to the fact that Moldovagaz recently resumed gas imports from Russia’s Gazprom, Moldovan energy minister was asked if this decision was not in conflict with the government policy in Chisinau. “It was not coordinated with the government. Normally, the company decides on its own about the source. But this is a politically sensitive topic, and I warned the company about it, they revised the decision. They resumed buying gas from Energocom,” Victor Parlikov said adding that this decision “is absolutely against the interests” of the government. As for the possible measures against Moldovagaz, Victor Parlicov said he did not think yet there was any malicious intent on their part. “I think it was more of a mistake and a misunderstanding, an attempt to avoid some tension, so to speak, at the enterprise level, but I think much more important are the political messages we send to our friends in the West. This is what we have done all winter. We managed to survive it virtually without Russian gas on the right bank and I do not understand why we needed to go back to buying gas from Gazprom at the end of the heating season,” the Minister of Energy said. When asked if it was possible at all to demand the termination of the contract with Gazprom, Victor Parlikov said, “It’s not a problem to terminate the contract.”