CHISINAU, October 17. /TASS/. The Moldovan authorities will not be able to fulfill their promise to reduce gas tariffs for the population by the beginning of winter due to panic on international exchanges in connection with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the country’s Energy Minister Viktor Parlikov said.

He expressed confidence that the price for gas the state enterprise Energocom purchases for the country, will stabilize.

"Over the last two weeks, there has been some panic on international exchanges, including in connection with the war in Israel and Palestine, and also because this is not a very good time, not very favorable for stockpiling gas. Therefore, Energocom will supply natural gas at a price of about $600. We are confident that this price can remain unchanged throughout the winter, and tariffs, even if they cannot be significantly reduced, will remain stable, regardless of what happens on international exchanges," Parlikov said on the Radio Moldova.

Over two years, the gas tariff for the population of Moldova increased from 4 to 29 lei (from $0.25 to $1.7) per 1 cubic meter, and only in June of this year it was reduced by 36% to 18 lei (about $1.05). The republic's Prime Minister Dorin Recean promised another reduction by winter - to 13 lei (about $0.75) per 1 cubic meter. Earlier, representatives of Moldovagaz and Energocom made the same forecasts.

Moldova is experiencing an energy crisis due to rising prices for gas and electricity, which has provoked protests in the country. Since October last year, Gazprom, which was previously the only gas supplier to the republic, has reduced its daily supply volume by 30%. The Russian company explained that this was due to technical problems associated with limited transit through Ukraine, but Chisinau blamed Gazprom for the crisis. In this situation, in December last year, Moldova completely switched to purchasing fuel from European suppliers, and Russian gas is sent to generate electricity in the unrecognized republic of Transnistria.