The Republic of Moldova has signed a new contract with Gazprom and is getting rid of the gas crisis
The Republic of Moldova has signed a new long-term gas supply contract with Gazprom, a decision meant to put a gas crisis in the country, caused by the attempt of Russian companies to reduce deliveries and ask for political concessions in exchange for an agreement, writes Financial Times.
The Republic of Moldova has been in talks with Gazprom for the past month, while seeking financial assistance from the EU and trying to buy enough gas from European companies on the spot market to meet its daily needs.
This month, the Republic of Moldova declared a state of emergency after Gazprom, which supplies all the country’s gas, reduced deliveries by a third and threatened that deliveries could be stopped if it did not accept a more expensive contract.
Gazprom also said during the negotiations that the country could get a better deal for gas if it gives up some pro-EU policies, sources close to the negotiations told FT this week.
The Moldovan crisis was part of a wider European gas crisis that prompted critics of Gazprom, Europe’s largest gas supplier, to suggest that it seek political concessions and punish some countries and govern.
Republic of Moldova, Western aspirations
Moldova is not part of the EU, but has chosen a strong pro-Western party in power this summer, which is looking for closer ties with Brussels and wants to take the country out of Russia’s sphere of influence. Russia has denied that the policy played a role in the negotiations and said it was discussing a new contract “exclusively in commercial terms”.
Despite official EU efforts to convince the country that it should avoid signing a new binding agreement with Moscow and rely in return on deliveries from European companies, Moldova has announced a five-year contract with the state-owned company.
“The agreement … includes the extension of the previous contract between Gazprom and MoldovaGaz for another five years, based on the price formula proposed by the Moldovan side,” the Moldovan government said, adding that deliveries will begin on Monday.
The agreement also involves an audit of the debts that Gazprom says Moldova has to the Russian company, but which Chisinau has challenged. No price details were disclosed.
This week, the EU promised Moldova a subsidy of 60 million euros, the equivalent of 20 days of gas imports at current market prices, Mediafax reports.