Parlicov on Kommersant Publication: “We Offered to Pay $8.6 Million to Gazprom and to Cancel All Other Claims”

The Moldovan authorities offered Gazprom to conclude an amicable agreement under which the Russian company and its structures will write off all Moldovagaz debts. In return, Chisinau guarantees the lawsuits absence in connection with the supplies reduction by $160m and is ready to pay Gazprom $153.57m as compensation for “deviations from the tariff”, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reports. Energy Minister Victor Parlicov commented on the publication. Again, he emphasized that a significant part of the debt to Gazprom was overdue. “After the verification of Moldovagaz alleged debt to its main shareholder Gazprom, carried out by two world-renowned companies, the most debt was considered overdue or not confirmed by documentation. Thus, the Moldovan government offered Moldovagaz to pay Gazprom 8.6 million dollars and cancel all other financial claims. The proposal was sent to Moldovagaz together with the audit results,” Parlicov posted on his Facebook. According to the Russian Kommersant, Chisinau demands that Moldovagaz debt to the Gazprom-controlled company Factoring Finance (to which Moldovagaz $275m debt was assigned) and Gazprom itself (another $433m) be written off immediately. In return, the Moldovan authorities propose that Moldovagaz pay $153.57m to Gazprom by the end of 2025 as compensation for “deviations from the tariff”, as well as waive claims that may arise in connection with the transit payments misallocation and the lack of gas supplies under the long-term contract since October 2022 (about $160m). Gazprom did not specify to Kommersant whether it was ready to consider the amicable agreement, but said that the relevant draft had indeed been submitted to Moldovagaz. Earlier, Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said that the Moldovan authorities were keen not to bring the situation with the debt to Gazprom to court, but were ready to firmly defend their position in case of arbitration proceedings with the Russian company. He expressed hope that the parties would be able to reach a common denominator. According to him, this will save money and speed up the dispute resolution. On 6 September, referring to the audit results, Parlicov suggested paying Gazprom $8.6m out of the $709m debt. He explained that of the total debt, 276m was not documented by Moldovagaz and Gazprom, and another 400m was not recoverable due to laps of time. “Gazprom, in turn, disagreed with the Moldovan authorities’ debt size assessment. The company said that the audit conducted by a foreign company at the request of the Moldovan government was carried out in violation of the agreements between the parties and cannot affect the size and validity of Moldova’s debt to Gazprom.”