Contract for gas supply to be extended for three more months

The contract for the supply of natural gas to Moldova signed by SA Moldovagaz and Russia’s gas giant Gazprom will most probably be extended for another three months, until the end of the third quarter of this year, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said in a press briefing on June 11, Info-Prim Neo reports. ”We gave signals to the new governmental team of Russia that we are ready to resume the negotiations on a new contract for the supply of gas and are waiting for an answer from our Gazprom partners,” said Valeriu Lazar. He reiterated that firstly there will be signed a new intergovernmental cooperation agreement between Moldova and Russia in the energy sector. The agreement on the supply of gas and the transportation of Russian gas to the Balkans will be signed afterward. Earlier, the Russian partners expressed their dissatisfaction with the signing by Moldova of the III Energy Package of the EU. Moldova was to guarantee that the investments made by Gazprom in the country will not be affected if SA Moldovagaz is restructured. Another problem is the rescheduling of the debts for the Russian gas supplied to end-users in Transnistria. They total about US$3.5 million. Moldovan government officials, including Valeriu Lazar, who coordinates the energy sector, consider it is not fair to put Transnistria’s debts on the shoulders of the consumers from the right side of the Nistru. ”There are also other problems, but solutions to them can be found easier than to the debt issue,” stated Valeriu Lazar. The contract for the supply of gas expired on December 31 and has been extended two times since then.