The Administration Board of SA Moldovagaz will seek help from all the shareholders, including the Russian company Gazprom. It will request to consider the possibility of deferring the payments or of providing short-term loans for covering the financial deviations, Moldovagaz chief Vadim Ceban announced. To overcome the current crisis, Ceban also suggests refunding the VAT to Moldovagaz as this way a rise of at least US$22 million in deviations will be avoided, IPN reports.

Vadim Ceban said the Government should examine the possibility of increasing the state subsidies for household users.

According to him, the company will continue to optimize costs. “In the long run, the industry should be taken to a free market, where the prices for domestic consumers and for producers differ significantly,” stated Vadim Ceban.

In January Moldova pays a purchase price of US$646 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. The gas rate for end users, with VAT included, is now 11.08 lei, being calculated at the purchase price of US$450 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. According to representatives of Moldovagaz, if the purchase price remains higher than US$600, the rate will have to be raised to approximately 14.7 lei.