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CHISINAU, Sep 7 Gazprom will lose its historical debt repayment case in court, wherever it is considered, Moldovan Energy Minister Viktor Parlikov said.
In October 2021, the Moldovan authorities agreed with Gazprom to extend the contract for the supply of gas to the republic, subject to an audit of Moldovagaz's debt in 2022. On Wednesday, its results were presented, with which Gazprom did not agree, also stating that the auditor's conclusions cannot in any way affect the size and validity of this debt, and the company intends to continue to defend its rights «by all possible means.»
“I think that even in the event of arbitration, even if it will be in Moscow, they (Gazprom. — Ed.) have no chance for these overdue debts. One of the reasons why we agreed to pay a certain amount and close this issue peacefully, lies in the fact that we will consider these cases in the Moscow Arbitration Court, as stipulated by the contract,» Parlikov said on the air of the Jurnal TV channel.
At the same time, he admits that «Gazprom» and the supervisory board of «Moldovagaz» may refuse to recognize the final report of the auditors.
«We understand that there is a very high possibility that the results will not be approved by the Gazprom Supervisory Board, however, we, as a government, cannot ignore the results of such reviews when formulating our positions on the mode of repayment of this debt,» the minister explained.
On Wednesday, Parlikov announced the results of the audit of the historical debt of the Moldovagaz company to Gazprom, saying that it amounted to $709 million as of the end of March last year, but $276 million of this amount was not documented , another 400 million are not recoverable — they have expired, and the Moldovan government proposes to pay Gazprom only the amount of $ 8.6 million, and challenge the rest in court.