Moldovan parliament approved in the second reading amendments to the Law on the 2021 State Budget that will allow providing 1.4 billion lei to Moldovagaz in order to pay for the gas supplied in October and November by Gazprom.
Finance Minister Dumitru Budianschi assured the MPs that the government has no hidden interests, and its goal is to help Moldovagaz fulfill Gazprom's conditions in order to avoid the interruption of natural gas supplies to Moldova. The head of the Ministry of Finance explained that Moldova really runs the risk of being left without gas and this is not an organized media show. “There is a real risk, and this is confirmed by the fact that on November 22, Gazprom sent a letter to Moldovagaz, with which it delivered an ultimatum telling that Gazprom would stop gas supplies in case of non-payment of the debt for October and failure to make an advance payment for November. On November 22, Moldovagaz sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Andrei Spinu asking the government to intervene to resolve the problem, since the company has a cash flow deficit and cannot pay the required amounts to Gazprom. At the same time, Moldovagaz admitted that after initiating many procedures, it could not solve the problem by obtaining a loan or restructuring payments and needs the government’s help," said Dumitru Budianschi. He stressed that the Cabinet in this situation could not just stay on sidelines, since it was necessary to look for solutions to resolve the situation, which had arisen, among other things, because there have not been taken necessary measures earlier so that the country wouldn’t be dependent on one gas supplier. The head of the Ministry of Finance specified that the government had found a solution to ensure stability in the energy market and proposed to make appropriate amendments to the state budget-2021, which would solve two main problems at once: to fulfill Gazprom's condition by supporting the cash flow of Moldovagaz to pay for gas, as well as improve the situation for Termoelectrica, which is part of the energy sector of Moldova and significantly contributes to the preservation of energy security in Moldova, being its important element. In particular, thanks to the amendments, Energocom will receive 1.4 billion lei from the state budget and will sign a contract on the assignment of a part (1.4 billion lei) of Termoelectrica's debt to Moldovagaz. It is planned that Energocom will pay Moldovagaz part of the debt taken on by Termoelectrica, and Moldovagaz will make the current payments for gas. This action by the government will reduce both Termoelectrica's debt to Moldovagaz and will solve the urgent problem of current payments for the consumed gas. This step will also help to reduce the debt of the right bank to Gazprom, in accordance with the obligations of the authorities, and the relationship between Energocom and Termoelectrica will be resolved later, given that both are state-owned companies. Dumitru Budianschi explained that it was decided to allocate the money through Energocom, since it is an important state-owned company that operates in the electricity and gas market and can manage transactions to maintain energy stability. Energocom is an electricity supplier and should become a player in the gas supply market. In addition, if the money were allocated to Moldovagaz directly, the company could interpret these payments at its discretion, it could take into account any debt it considers necessary, and the debts would be covered in the way it decides. At the same time, the assignment of part of Termoelectrica's debt to Energocom excludes such a situation, because the contract between the companies specifies the assignment of debts confirmed by the courts, and it is these debts that will be paid, and not any obscure debts. At the same time, as the Minister of Finance explained, Energocom will later retrieve these amounts from Termoelectrica, the debt will be repaid in stages under the contract. Dumitru Budianschi also clarified that all Termoelectrica accounts are blocked, and payments can only be made with the permission of Moldovagaz. “And if the money were transferred to Termoelectrica, then Moldovagaz could have collected it to pay off any debts, and not real debts confirmed by the court. But in any case, the money will come back to Energocom from Termoelectrica,” said the Minister of Finance. He noted that the government considered it important to carry out all operations through parliament in order to ensure maximum transparency of transactions, in order to avoid interruption of natural gas supplies to Moldova, to maintain a stable situation in the energy market, to have gas and electricity and to pass the winter and heating season well. // 25.11.2021 - InfoMarket.
