The Republic of Moldova does not aim to end the contract with Gazprom even if the Russian company doesn’t fulfill its contractual obligations and doesn’t deliver the necessary volumes of gas, said Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov. According to him, the authorities are expecting that the Russian side with terminate the contract unilaterally. If Gazprom stops supplying gas to the Transnistrian region, the official Chisinau will have to manage two crises concomitantly – high energy prices and a possible humanitarian crisis on the left side of the Nistru, IPN reports.
The minister noted that the contract with Gazprom ensures a lower price for the electricity purchased from the Kuchurgan power plant for the right side of the Nistru and helps the Transnistrian region to stay afloat.
“On the right side, we do not consume gas from Gazprom. For the left side, we do not have another solution for having decent electricity prices for our citizens and for maintaining social stability on the left side of the Nistru, which is not less important because the Transnistrian region depends on the money we pay for electrical energy. We want to have stability, predictability in relations. We must initiate a dialogue and look for solutions to settle this conflict politically,” Victor Parlicov stated in the program “Reflection Points” on Vocea Basarabiei station.
He noted that even if Gazprom supplies gas not in the volumes stipulated in the contract, the official Chisinau doesn’t intend to terminate the contract with the Russian company.
“At the moment, we do not aim to unilaterally end this contract, but we should evidently brace ourselves for the scenario when Gazprom will terminate it as, from last May, Gazprom has had the legal right to end this contract. Surely, we must be ready for such a scenario at any moment, but we do not plan to make approaches to terminate this contract,” said the minister.
According to him, an eventual halt in the supply of Russian gas will mean a humanitarian crisis on the left side of the Nistru and Chisinau will have to handle this crisis. Furthermore, the termination of the contract with Gazprom means higher power prices.
“We have options and can cope without electrical energy from the Transnistrian region, but we must be ready to concomitantly manage several crises – the electricity prices on our side and a possible humanitarian crisis in several months in the Transnistrian region. We should not forget that there are about 300,000 people in the Transnistrian region and almost all of them are citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” explained Victor Parlicov.
