CHISINAU, May 23. /TASS/. Shareholders of the Russian-Moldovan company Moldovagaz are not ready to sell part of assets for conformance to the requirements of the Third Energy Package (TEP) of the EU, which the Moldovan government has committed itself to do, acting Board Chairman of Moldovagaz Vadim Cheban told TASS when commenting on the decision of the Moldovan authorities to deprive the company of the rights to distribute gas to ultimate customers.
"Those requirements mean that we should sell the assets. No one will sell, firstly, and secondly, even if there was a wish, it takes much time," he said.
Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said earlier on Friday that Moldovagaz had lost a license for distribution of gas to ultimate customers starting August 1, adding that the TEP provisions suggested that the company be divided into three entities: on supply of gas, its transportation, and distribution.
Moldovagaz was established in 1999. Its largest shareholder is Gazprom, which controls 50% of shares, another 35.3% is held by the Moldovan government, and 13.44% is owned by Transnistria. The unrecognized republic transferred its shares to Gazprom.