CHISINAU, September 12. /TASS/. Moldova has potential to agree with Gazprom on favorable gas prices, Igor Dodon, a former president of the country, told TASS.
"It’s possible to achieve a more favorable gas price, as I have seen from my own experience. To do this, you need to be a reliable partner and a responsible negotiator. The current leadership of the country in October last year extended for five years the contract with Gazprom, in which they committed to find an auditor to check our debt for gas. It appeared in 2014-2016, when Moldova was governed by a government formed by a coalition of pro-European parties, in which, by the way, [Moldovan President Maia] Sandu worked as a minister," he said.
"No one demanded that we pay the money immediately. But before continuing deliveries, Gazprom wanted to clarify how the previous debts would be repaid," Dodon said.
In October last year, Moldovagaz and Gazprom extended the contract for the supply of the fuel for five years. One of the main conditions of the contract was the repayment of the debt and timely current payments. However, due to a sharp increase of market prices for natural gas and caps on prices for households in Moldova, Moldovagaz delayed payments to Gazprom several times and received warnings. That prompted the government to intervene and even declare a state of emergency.
Last week, Sandu urged to reduce gas consumption as much as possible as its prices in winter will go through the roof, and Gazprom may stop supplies, as the Moldovan government didn’t fulfill its commitments to conduct an audit of the republic's debt to the Russian company by May of this year. Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Andrey Spynu, following a telephone conversation with the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, said that the government would not have time to complete the debt audit and asked to extend the deadline for another year, until March 31, 2023.
However, the head of Gazprom insists that the audit should be completed by October of this year. According to the Russian company, Moldova's debt with penalties is about $700 million. Dodon, the governor of the Gagauz region, Irina Vlah, and some other politicians called on the Moldovan leadership to hold talks with Moscow about gas supplies.