Ex-President Igor Dodon said the negotiations between the current government and Gazprom on the contract for the purchase of gas were tardy and non-professional. According to him, the government pledged to repay the debts owed by Moldovagaz for August, September and October and the money will be allocated from the state budget by a decision of the Commission for Emergencies, IPN reports.

Igor Dodon said the government maintains the state of emergency because money is to be allocated from the state budget in a simplified way for clearing Moldovagaz’s debts for August, September and October. Also, the price calculation formula is not advantageous to Moldova.

“I know the price calculation formula in detail. It allows for the purchase price of gas to be raised above the market price in half a year or a year. We have gas and this is important, but the price is very high and the gas rate was thus increased. Secondly, by this contract the Republic of Moldova undertook particular commitments that will cost the state budget a lot of money. The Republic of Moldova committed itself to pay the debts for August, September and October. According to our calcualtions, the sum totals 1.5 billion lei. The Government intends to allocate 1.2 billion lei to Moldovagaz by a decision of the Commission for Emergencies,” Igor Dodon stated in the program “Key Issue” on NTV Moldova channel.

He noted that the government wasted state funds when natural gas was bought from alternative sources to maintain pressure in the network. If the negotiations with Gazprom had started earlier, these costs would have been avoided.

“In October, we spent US$17 million on the purchase of gas at a price that is kept secret. This is another 300 million lei. The total sum is of over 1.5 billion lei. This is the price of the current government’s non-professional approach to the gas issue. For comparison, I want to explain what 1.5 billion lei means. Last year, we started to rehabilitate roads in all villages with 1 billion lei,” said Igor Dodon.

Moldova signed a five-year contract for the purchase of gas with Gazprom. The purchase price of gas for November is US$450 per 1,000 cubic meters. The National Agency for Energy Regulation approved a temporary gas rate for November for end users at 10.26 lei per cubic meter of gas. The rate together with VAT is 11.08 lei.