There are preconditions for Gazprom to increase the amounts of natural gas supplied to the Republic of Moldova, if the payments are made on time and an agreement over the debts of the right side of the Nistru is reached, said the president of Moldovagaz Vadim Ceban. According to him, the method of repaying the debts should be decided faster so that the Republic of Moldova fully receives the necessary amounts of gas from Gazprom, IPN reports.
On October 11, Moldovagaz additionally allocated 0.9 million cubic meters of gas to the Kuchurgan power plant for producing the amount of electrical energy needed during 24 hours. Such a decision was taken after Kyiv announced that they can no longer sell electrical energy following the Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Vadim Ceban said that Tiraspoltransgaz didn’t pay for the amounts and the debt is added to the historical debt owed to Gazprom.
“Moldovagaz didn’t gain anything but Tiraspoltransgaz is our daughter company. Furthermore, the Kuchurgan power plant supplies the full amount of electrical energy needed by the right side. We are a commercial company but we are also a supplier that needs to provide the protected consumers with the necessary amounts. We substitute these volumes. This means that we pay less to Gazprom. Respectively, the debt owed by Tiraspoltransgaz to Moldovagaz increases with this amount. This does not mean that they didn’t pay. The amounts are anyway billed and Tiraspoltransgaz needs to pay for them,” Vadim Ceban stated in the program “Black Box” on TV8 channel.
He also said that the sides should swiftly agree a debt rescheduling plan for the right side of the Nistru. Only then Gazprom would accept to fully supply the amounts of gas stipulated in the contract.
“The reduction in amounts is not critical for October. But in the future we need to make the payments on time and to propose a conceptual debt rescheduling agreement. In accordance with the contract, the amounts can be increased if Moldovagaz and Gazprom reach an agreement over debts. We are working on this now. When the Government intervenes, it helps the consumers not Moldovagaz. If the gas rate had been approved on time according to the methodology and the purchase price, we wouldn’t have sought help from the Commission for Exceptional Situations,” stated Vadim Ceban.
At the beginning of October, Gazprom reduced the amounts of natural gas supplied to the Republic of Moldova by 30%. Of the 8.06 million m3 of gas needed daily, including for the Transnistrian region, only 5.7 million m3 a day are supplied. To save gas, the thermoelectric plant CET 1 on October 11 switched over to crude oil and uses a minimum amount of natural gas in the technological process.
