The Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă said that Romania can offer the Republic of Moldova 5 million cubic meters of gas a day but not more, IPN reports

“When I discussed with Premier Gavrilița, we considered 150 million cubic meters. We need to see what other amounts we can provide in the immediate period as we currently have over 86-87% of the stores filled and if we manage to sign contracts for winter so as to maintain a balance in the system and have the necessary volumes during the days with low temperatures, we can provide gas,” Nicolae Ciucă stated for the Romanian press.

According to him, if the Russian company Gazprom stops now gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova, this will be a problem indeed. “We can supply that amount to the Republic of Moldova through the Ungheni-Ungheni gas pipeline but it will not satisfy all the needs. We can provide 5 million cubic meters of gas a day but not more,” stated the Romanian official.

The Moldovan authorities on September 30 announced that Moldovagaz received confirmation from Gazprom for the supply of 5.7 million cubic meters of gas a day out of the necessary 8.06 million cubic meters a day (for both sides of the Nistru). The supplies were this way cut by 30%. Later, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, said that if Gazprom fulfills its contractual obligations, the amounts of gas needed by Moldovagaz can be secured through daily tender contests. For the purpose, Moldovagaz requested Gazprom to daily reserve additional volumes for both sides of the Nistru River during October 1-7. On October 3, the authorities announced that the joint stock company Energocom obtained a license from Romania’s Energy Regulatory Authority and can buy or sell natural gas on the market of Romania. Also, Energocom was registered on the Regional Booking Platform and can access gas storage facilities in Ukraine.