After last Friday Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s National Security Council head, announced Ukraine would supply gas to Moldova, today he had to clarify it was going to be a loan, Ekonomichna Pravda reported.
Friday’s announcement had “a bombshell effect” in Kyiv. Given the situation on the global markets and the Ukrainian government’s effort regarding possible price constraints for domestic consumers, the announcement raised a few eyebrows among Ukrainians.
Moreover, in the absence of further official information, a few publications indulged in conspiracy theories about “1 billion cubic meters of gas” in exchange for Moldovan authorities stiffing the investigation into the kidnapping of Mykola Chaus, a Ukrainian judge accused of corruption who had sought political asylum in Moldova before being mysteriously brought back to Ukraine.
“But the reality has proven to be far simpler”, writes Ekonomichna Pravda. Ukraine has agreed to offer a “symbolic amount” of 16 million cubic meters of gas in emergency assistance to Moldova. But more could follow, if Moldova’s talks with Moscow on a new gas supply deal fail.
At the same time, Ukraine’s NV Biznes reported that Naftogaz signed with Moldova’s Energom a framework agreement for up to 700 million cubic meters on market terms in addition to the 16 BN cu.m. loan.
