Moldova’s debt to Gazprom was created due to the purchase of gas in October at a price of over 790 USD / thousand cubic meters, and the gas tariff applied for that month did not cover the difference, says Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu in the context of the declarations of Sergey Kupriyanov, press secretary to Gazprom’s chairman of the board.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development says that on Monday, November 22, at the request of Gazprom, the meeting of the MoldovaGaz Observatory Council took place. The only subject, according to Spînu, was the current debt accumulated by MoldovaGaz for October and the payments for November.

These amounts were to be paid by November 20. This gas payment formula is part of the basic contract between MoldovaGaz and Gazprom and is not a new conditionality.

Spînu mentions that after the meeting of the Board of Observers, MoldovaGaz received notification of debt payment within 48 hours, which amounts to over 74 million dollars.

The debt was created due to the purchase of gas in October at a price of over 790 USD / thousand cubic meters and the gas tariff applied for October did not cover the difference. So far, Moldovagaz has not found a commercial solution to pay off this current debt. After the application of the modified tariff, from November, MoldovaGaz is obliged to pay in full for the gas consumption for Gazprom.

The Deputy Prime Minister also says that the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development received on Tuesday, November 23, MoldovaGaz’s request regarding the created situation.

In this sense, the Government is in discussions to identify solutions and guarantee the delivery of gas for Moldova.

Gazprom intends to stop the supply of natural gas to Moldova because payments are not paid on time, said Sergey Kupriyanov, press secretary to Gazprom’s chairman of the board.

“Given the difficult situation in Moldova from an economic and financial point of view, Gazprom decided to sign the practical contract under the terms of the Moldovan side, but with one essential condition: Moldova must make timely payments for gas. The next payment deadline is today, November 22nd. In this sense, today, Gazprom, according to the contract, notified the Moldovan side that in 48 hours the gas deliveries to Moldova will be stopped,” mentioned Sergey Kupriyanov.

On October 29, after a series of negotiations, the gas supply contract between Gazprom and Moldovagaz was extended for five years on mutually advantageous conditions, the Russian giant officially announced in an informative note. Subsequently, Deputy Prime Minister Spînu said that the price for Russian gas will be 450 dollars per thousand cubic meters, and that the debt of Moldova will be paid after an independent audit.