MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. Gazprom called Moldova’s approach to the audit of the debt of Moldovagaz "unilateral" as Chisinau did not take into account the proposals of the Russian holding when choosing the auditor.
"The unilateral approach of the Moldovan side to determining the terms of the tender for the purchase of auditor services does not allow us to expect transparency and objectivity of the audit of debts of Moldovagaz for gas supplied to consumers of the Republic of Moldova. This may lead to the situation when the Supervisory Board of Moldovagaz does not accept the results of the audit," the Russian gas holding said in a statement.
Such an approach is contrary to the agreements reached in October 2021, Gazprom stresses.
Moreover, representatives of the Moldovan government did not attend the meeting of the Supervisory Board of Moldovagaz on February 2 to agree on an approach to the audit. Instead, they said that the conditions of hiring an auditor had already been determined by the Moldovan side.
"According to the published documents, they did not take into account the proposals of PJSC Gazprom, the company had sent to the Moldovan side," the Russian gas holding notes.
The Moldovagaz gas distribution company was established in 1999. Gazprom controls 50% in Moldovagaz, while the Moldovan government holds another 35.3% of shares, and 13.44% belongs to the unrecognized republic of Transnistria, which transferred its shares to Gazprom for management.
Debts and audit
The audit of Moldovagaz was initiated by the country’s government, which considers it necessary to clarify the amount of debt to Gazprom. It is planned to involve an independent international company for the audit.
In October 2021, Gazprom extended the contract for gas supplies to Moldova for the next five years. Among the main preconditions for the extension of the contract were debt repayment and timely payments for gas by Moldovagaz.
Earlier, Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said that the debt of Moldovagaz to the Russian holding amounted to $433 mln, and taking into account the delay in payments it reached $709 mln.
At the end of last year, the Moldovan parliament ordered to conduct inspections at Moldovagaz. The audit will affect both the company's subsidiaries and legal entities directly or indirectly related to the gas sector. The audit will involve the Accounts Chamber and foreign auditors. The final report must be submitted by November 30, 2022.