CHISINAU, June 22. /TASS/. The Moldovan authorities are striving to maintain working relations with Gazprom, although they do not yet see the point of buying gas from the Russian gas giant, Moldovan Energy Minister Viktor Parlikov announced on Thursday.
"Fundamental factors lead to the fact that prices before winter are likely to be low and we buy gas for the future <...>. We see some risks associated with price hikes in winter, so we maintain working relations (with Gazprom - TASS)," the minister said.
However, he noted that the country’s authorities have to prepare for the situation "Gazprom’s prices under the contract formula are lower and we have to think whether we will buy from it or buy on market".
Now, according to the minister, Chisinau sees no point in buying gas from the Russian gas giant.
"Even if Gazprom's prices are lower, it is quite possible that the volumes they will supply will not be enough," he explained.
According to Parlikov, both Moldova and Gazprom do not fully fulfill their obligations under the contract. Chisinau blames Gazprom for reducing the volume of deliveries, but at the same time, the Moldovan authorities have not provided the results of the promised audit of the Moldovagaz debt, as stipulated by the agreements.
Overdue audit
One of the main conditions on which the management of Gazprom agreed in October 2021 to extend the contract for the supply of gas to Moldova for the next five years was the repayment of the debt for gas and timely payments. At the talks, Chisinau insisted on an international audit of the country's debt for gas and obliged to organize it and present the results by May 1, 2022.
For this, foreign auditors were invited - the Norwegian company Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma A. S. and Forensic Risk Alliance & Co. Limited from UK. However, the results of the audit were not presented by this date, and, despite the fact that the Moldovan side did not fulfill its obligations, the Russian holding continued to supply gas to the republic.
In May, head of the Moldovagaz gas distribution company, Vadim Cheban, expressed hope that the report would still be submitted to the company's supervisory board, which should decide whether to accept it or not in order to proceed to the next stage of agreeing on the debt repayment schedule. But that did not happen.
Earlier, the official representative of Gazprom Sergey Kupriyanov said that at present the debt of Moldovagaz is $433 million, and taking into account the delay in payments, the total amount of debt reaches $709 million. According to the results of the audit, the Accounts Chamber of Moldova asserts that Moldovagaz's debt to Gazprom is $590.8 million.
Moldovagaz was founded in 1999. Its largest shareholder is Gazprom, which controls 50% of the shares, another 35.3% belongs to the government of Moldova, and 13.44% - to Transnistria. The unrecognized republic transferred its shares to Gazprom.