Moldova can return to purchasing Russian gas if the price offered by Gazprom is lower than the prices on the international market. Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov said that Moldova must make a pragmatic choice and identify the best gas price for final consumers. He noted that Moldova didn’t impose sanctions on Russian gas, which means it can buy gas from Gazprom, IPN notes.

According to the minister, Moldova can buy Russian gas for the right side of the Nistru from April 2024 if the price offered by the Russian gas giant is advantageous.

“The situation has changed completely over two years. In October 2021, when Gazprom said it would no longer supply the required volumes, we had no choice but to buy gas at the price requested by Gazprom. Today we can choose. We can buy from Gazprom or we can buy on the stock exchange. I want the prices we access to be the best for consumers. Now prices on the stock exchange are more advantageous than the price of Gazprom. But after April, the volume of 5.7 million cubic meters would be enough even for the right side. And we will have to make a pragmatic choice. If the price from Gazprom is better, we can take from Gazprom. I do not rule out this scenario. If we have better prices on the stock exchange, why should we pay more to Gazprom?” Victor Parlicov stated in the program “In Context” on the public TV channel Moldova 1.

He said that Moldova must make pragmatic decisions and choose the best gas purchase price, which will generate a lower charge for the citizens.

“As a country, we didn’t impose sanctions on Russian gas or anything like that. There is no political decision that we will not take gas from the Russian Federation. Another thing is that we didn’t take it from Gazprom earlier because it was more expensive. There is no point in buying more expensive gas from Gazprom when we can buy cheaper gas from the international market. And that’s what we did, and we saved about US$60 million. In the course of this year, the situation can be different. We must learn to adopt a pragmatic approach,” noted the official.

At the end of December, Energocom and Moldovagaz signed a contract for the sale and purchase of natural gas, which provides for the delivery of a volume of 451 million m3 of gas for January – April 2024, at the price of €550/1 000 m3.