Gazprom is trying to condition the supply of natural gas to the Republic of Moldova on the payment of a "non-existent debt" that our country is not going to pay. This was stated on the Moldova 1 TV channel by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Dorin Rechan.
According to the head of government, "this condition affects national interests." Thus, by refusing a constructive dialogue with the Russian concern, the Moldovan authorities are deliberately leading the country to an energy crisis.
Rechan claims that natural gas "has always been and remains a political problem," and Gazprom is contractually obligated to supply gas to the border of Moldova.
"Otherwise, they will be responsible for the situation on the left bank of the Dniester, which will have consequences for the right bank in terms of electricity prices. Gazprom is contractually obliged to supply gas to the border with the Republic of Moldova, and if it does not do it through Ukraine, it is obliged to do it through the Turkish Stream," Rechan said categorically.
Russian gas continues to flow to Europe in transit through Ukraine thanks to the current five-year contract signed at the end of 2019. Kiev has already announced that it will not renew this agreement, which expires at the end of 2024. However, there is no official decision of the Ukrainian authorities on this issue yet.
For its part, Gazprom confirmed that in this situation it is ready to continue supplying gas to Moldova, which has not fulfilled the terms of the current audit contract and the repayment of historical debt, as well as several times disrupted the timely payment of current supplies to the border with Ukraine. Chisinau was recommended to discuss further logistics with Kiev, since it is the action of the Ukrainian side that can lead to an energy collapse in Moldova.
Recall, Chisinau sends the gas received from Russia to Pridnestrovie, so that the MoldGRES (Inter RAO enterprise) located there could provide about 90% of the electricity needs of the Right Bank at a price of $ 66 per 1 MWh, This is 4-5 times cheaper than Romania can offer. The Moldovan authorities have already called the upcoming energy crisis a "humanitarian catastrophe."
Tiraspol has so far refrained from commenting. However, earlier, Pridnestrovian President Vadim Krasnoselsky said that an alternative route for the supply of Russian gas to the region had been worked out, which would be sufficient for the needs of the republic.
As EADaily reported, Moldova's payment of the historical debt to Gazprom was one of the conditions of the five-year contract concluded in October 2021. Chisinau has disrupted the audit deadlines several times, and then attracted companies with a dubious reputation (the Norwegian Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and the British Forensic Risk Alliance) without coordinating it with the Russian side. As a result, Moldova's historical debt was unreasonably underestimated by 100 times (out of $ 757 million, they recognized only about $ 8 million), with which Gazprom categorically disagrees.