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The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, during talks with Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilitsa, said that the Russian company “Gazprom” exerts political pressure on Chisinau in connection with the fact that it does not want to reduce gas prices for the country. Borrell’s words leads RBC.
“We see attempts by Gazprom to exert political pressure instead of lowering gas prices. And we agreed with the Prime Minister on our position on the potential for a third party to use energy as a political weapon. Gas is a commodity, it is sold and bought, and cannot be used as a geopolitical weapon, ”said the head of EU diplomacy.
He added that Moldova will receive assistance in the form of grants and other forms of support.
On October 27, the Moldovan company Energocom announced the third tender for the purchase of 1.5 million cubic meters of gas, which was won by the Swiss company DXT Commodities and the Polish oil and gas company PGNiG. October 26 the second tender of Energocom won Swiss-Dutch company Vitol Group. The day before that Moldova concluded a contract for a trial purchase of one million cubic meters of gas from the Polish company PGNiG.
Last week, the Moldovan parliament declared a state of emergency in the country due to the energy crisis. Back in early October, Moldovagaz reported that consumption in the republic exceeds supplies from Russia, and urged to save fuel.
The situation was complicated by the fact that the country did not sign a long-term contract with Gazprom. On October 1, the Russian concern extended the contract signed in the mid-2000s for a month. According to it, the cost is formed depending on world oil prices, that is, for Moldova, they increased to $ 790 per 1,000 cubic meters, while in September the price was $ 550.
Another round of negotiations took place this week. How told a source of RIA Novosti, Gazprom offered a fair price with an additional discount of 25% in exchange for a debt of $ 700 million. However, the Moldovan delegation did not agree to these conditions and insisted on reducing the price twice below the market price, citing the lack of necessary funds , said the interlocutor. In addition, Chisinau does not recognize its historical debt to Russia, since it believes that it should not pay for gas supplies to residents of Transnistria, which it does not control.
Taking into account Transnistria, Moldova consumes on average 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The share of consumption of the right-bank part of Moldova is 1.1 billion cubic meters. The debt of Transnistria for natural gas has already exceeded $ 7 billion. Despite the payment for the gas consumed by industrial and household consumers, the regional authorities are accumulating this money in the so-called “gas account”. These funds cover the budget deficit of the self-proclaimed republic, the size of which reaches 45-50%.
The official representative of Gazprom, Sergei Kupriyanov, noted that the difficult situation with gas supplies to Moldova was due to the fault of the republican authorities, the debt was $ 433 million. debt.
On October 27, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development of Moldova Andrei Spinu will meet in St. Petersburg with the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller to continue negotiations on gas supplies to the country.
Moreover, how informs The Financial Times, citing sources familiar with the negotiations between the Moldovan and Russian sides, Gazprom offered the republic a discount on Russian gas in exchange for adjusting the free trade agreement with the EU, as well as suspending the energy market reforms agreed with Brussels.
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