The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign state that decides itself where to store the purchased gas, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița replied after the Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his bewilderment at the fact that the gas purchased by the Republic of Moldova from Gazprom is stored on the territory of Ukraine. The Premier assured that the decision to sign a contract with MGRES is advantageous to both of the sides of the Nistru as it offers the citizens electricity at a lower price and the possibility of avoiding blackouts in case of new barrages in Ukraine, IPN reports.

Two days ago, President Putin said he was surprised at Chisinau’s decision to store gas in Ukraine. He instructed the minister of energy of Russia to analyze the situation.

“The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign country and the gas it purchases can be stored there where it decides. We do not have gas storage places in the Republic of Moldova. A particular amount of gas is stored in Romania, but the reservoirs there are rather full and we therefore also store in Ukraine, which has storage capacities and the reservoirs there are safe,” Natalia Gavrilița stated in an interview with Vocea Basarabiei station.

The Premier noted the decision to sign the contract for the purchase of electricity with MGRES enables the citizens to pay lower electricity charges and offers the possibility of avoiding power outages or of swiftly restoring the supply of power if Russia continues to brutally attack Ukraine.

“We yet realize that we need to conduct correct analyses, to have economic justification and to tell the people about the importance of this decision. It was discussed with our partners. So, this is a broader decision that was analyzed and consulted before being taken,” said Natalia Gavrilița.

Following the signing of the contract with MGRES, the right side of the Nistru purchases electrical energy from the Kuchurgan power plant at the price of US$73 per MW. The reduction in the purchase price enabled the National Agency for Energy Regulation to review the electricity charges down. Currently, households powered by Premier Energy pay a charge of 4.62 lei/kWh, down from 5.91 lei/kWh, while those powered by FEE Nord pay 4.65 lei/kWh, down from 5.60 lei/kWh.