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MOSCOW, September 18The head of Gazprom Alexey Miller and Member of the Moldovan Parliament Adrian Albu held a working meeting at which they discussed cooperation in the gas sector and agreed to continue contacts, the Russian company reported on its Telegram channel.
«A working meeting was held between Alexey Miller and Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Adrian Albu. The parties exchanged views on the interaction between Gazprom and Moldova in the gas sector and agreed to continue contacts,» the company said in a statement.
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 the debt of the Moldovagaz company in 2022.
On September 6, Moldovan Energy Minister Viktor Parlikov announced the results of an audit, according to which Moldovagaz’s debt to Gazprom amounted to $709 million as of the end of March last year. Of this amount, 276 million have not been documented by either Moldovagaz or Gazprom, another 400 million dollars are not subject to recovery — they have expired. In this regard, the Moldovan government proposes to pay Gazprom only $8.6 million and challenge the rest in court.
Gazprom, for its part, reported that the audit of Moldovagaz’s debt to it was carried out unilaterally, cannot influence the validity of the debt, the Russian company does not agree with the statements of the Moldovan side regarding the debt for the gas supplied and will defend its rights .
There is a state of emergency in Moldova, which was declared, among other things, due to the energy crisis amid problems with gas shortages and a sharp rise in prices for energy resources. Since December last year, the Moldovagaz enterprise has been receiving gas from two sources — from the state enterprise Energocom and the Russian Gazprom. Russian gas is sent to Transnistria, and the rest of Moldova uses gas from accumulated reserves (more than 200 million cubic meters).