CHISINAU, January 13. /TASS/. Moldova is delaying its appeal to an international court on its debt to Gazprom because the audit by the foreign companies they invited was conducted with gross violations, said Transnistrian political scientist Anatoly Dirun.
"Appealing to international arbitration is a reputational risk for the company that conducted the debt audit. I assume, this is one of the reasons why Moldova has so far refrained from filing a claim is the mandatory invitation of this company to court. Facts may emerge that the audit was conducted without access to all documents, data and figures. Which discredits the conclusions of the audit company. In addition to that, Moldova appointed an audit firm without Gazprom's approval, which is also unacceptable," said Dirun as quoted by a local newspaper.
Last April, former Moldovan Energy Minister Viktor Parlikov said that the government of the republic was ready to consider the debt to Gazprom in an arbitration court, as stipulated in the agreement that the Russian gas holding signed with the gas transportation company Moldovagaz.
The Moldovan government hired the Norwegian company Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and the British Forensic Risk Alliance & Co to make an audit of the country’s gas debt to Gazprom. The audit was presented in September.
Commenting on its results acting chairman of the board of Moldovagaz Vadim Cheban called the position of the Moldovan government, which does not recognize the debt to Gazprom in the amount of $709 million, unfounded.
The audit firms claim that they did not find supporting documents for the amount of $276 million, while another $400 million cannot be levied due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In this regard, the Moldovan government agreed to pay Gazprom only $8.6 million. For its part, the management of the Russian gas holding stated that it strongly disagrees with Moldova's claims and intends to defend its rights. According to data previously published by the Audit Chamber of Moldova, Moldovagaz's debt to Gazprom is estimated at $590.8 million.
Moldovagaz was established in 1999. Its largest shareholder is Gazprom, which controls 50% of the shares, another 35.3% belongs to the Moldovan government, and 13.44% to Transnistria. The unrecognized republic transferred its shares to Gazprom.