Russia's Gazprom will completely stop supplying natural gas to Moldova from 8:00 Moscow time on January 1, 2025.
According to its statement, due to the Moldovan side's refusal to settle debts for gas supplies, PJSC Gazprom on December 28 sent a notice to Moldovagaz SA, which says that Moldovagaz SA regularly fails to fulfill its payment obligations under the existing contract, which is a material breach of its terms. In this regard, based on the contract provisions and applicable norms of the Russian legislation, PJSC Gazprom, starting from 8:00 Moscow time on January 1, 2025, introduces a restriction of natural gas supplies to the Republic of Moldova to 0 cubic meters per day. The restriction will remain in effect until PJSC Gazprom notifies Moldovagaz JSC in writing otherwise. “PJSC Gazprom reserves all its rights, including the right to unilaterally terminate the contract and the right to demand from Moldovagaz JSC compensation for all losses and payment of fines for non-fulfillment and/or improper fulfillment by Moldovagaz JSC of its obligations under the contract,” the Russian gas holding company said in a statement. As InfoMarket reported earlier, Gazprom's official representative Sergei Kupriyanov said that Moldovagaz's historical debt to Gazprom Group amounts to $433 million, and taking into account late payments, the total amount of debt reaches $709 million. Moldovan Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said earlier that during the negotiations with Gazprom in St. Petersburg, the Russian side again put the topic of the historical debt on the agenda and started linking the issue of continuity of gas supplies to Moldova via an alternative route through Turkey with the topic of repayment of the so-called debt of the right bank of the Dniester. He recalled that an external audit showed that most of Moldovagaz's alleged debts to Gazprom are undocumented or overdue and are not enforceable. Therefore, Moldova offers the Russian concern to pay $8.6 million at this stage and “to close all these issues”. No alternative proposals were received from Gazprom, and Chisinau asked the Russian company to formulate its position and present it for consideration. Victor Parlicov said that Chisinau's position is based on the results of the audit. “We consider it unfair to condition gas supplies to the left bank of the Nistru River to solve the problem of the so-called historical debt of the right bank. We have not been accumulating debts on the right bank for many years. This problem is historical and we should treat it accordingly,” he specified. Prime Minister Dorin Recean said earlier that Moldova will not pay Gazprom for debts that it considers unjustified. According to him, the audit of the so-called debts to Gazprom in Moldovagaz showed that these debts are unjustified and, therefore, Chisinau is not going to pay them. The audit was conducted by the Norwegian Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and the British Forensic Risk Alliance & Co. “Commenting on the results of the audit of Moldovagaz's historical debt to Gazprom, Gazprom said it categorically disagrees with the Moldovan side's claims and intends to continue defending its rights by all possible means. //28.12.2024 - InfoMarket.
