Pipes of the national gas distribution network in MoldovaCHISINAU, Jan 20«Moldovagaz» managed to repay the next payment to «Gazprom» in time, Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spinu said. «Moldovagaz» fully paid for the fuel received in December, but it lacked about 25 million dollars to repay the advance payment. The Russian concern warned that in case of non-payment, it is ready to stop deliveries from January 21. The parliament of the republic declared a state of emergency for 60 days to resolve the problem.Moldova explained the benefit to Sandu from the introduction of the state of emergency «Moldovagaz» informs that it has fully paid the advance payment for January,» Spinu wrote on the Telegram channel. He added that the states are going through an energy crisis that affects everyone. The Deputy Prime Minister assured that the government will fulfill all its obligations, in particular, compensate for the expected increase in the tariff and ensure the supply of gas to every home.
The press service of Moldovagaz specified that it transferred the final tranche of $34.375 million to Gazprom. «This step was made possible thanks to the support of the government of the Republic of Moldova, including the allocation of 469 million lei (almost $26 million — Ed.) compensation for natural gas as an advance payment, deferring VAT payments to the state budget and transfers to Energocom, the company said in a statement posted on Facebook. Gazprom and Moldovagaz on October 29, after lengthy negotiations, extended the gas supply contract for a period of five years, starting November 1. The Russian holding said that, given the situation in Moldova, it was decided to sign a contract practically on the terms of the other party, but subject to timely full payment for current supplies. $74 million debt for gas received in October and November, in December Moldovagaz was able to pay on your own. However, a representative of Gazprom, Sergey Kupriyanov, expressed fears that this could happen again in the future.