The Gazprom contract for gas supply, which expired on December 31, 2011, will be prolonged for another six months, until the end of the year. Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar assured the consumers that the price would not rise during this period, but would not drop either, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Deputy PM has recently returned from an economic forum in Sankt Petersburg, where he met with the Russian Minister of Energy Alexandr Novac and with Deputy Chairman of Gazprom and Chairman of Council of Monitors at “Moldovagaz” SOE Valeri Golubev, with whom the Moldovan official discussed about resuming negotiations. Valeriu Lazar explained that first an intergovernmental agreement, of collaboration in the energy field with the Russian Federation, will be signed. The next step would be the negotiation of the gas supply agreement between Gazprom and Moldovagaz. Valeriu Lazar hopes that the negotiations on the new gas supply agreement will have ended by the end of the year.