Moldova continues talks with Gazprom for new long-term contract
Moldova is continuing talks to secure a new long-term gas supply contract with Russia's Gazprom, its deputy prime minister Andrei Spinu told a press conference on October 11, as the country struggles with shortages and significantly higher prices after agreeing a short-term extension of the existing agreement until the end of this month.
"We discussed the issue of signing a long-term contract – this week we will start negotiations with Gazprom to draw up a work plan," Spinu said after holding talks with Gazprom Export CEO Elena Burmistrova in St Petersburg.
Moldova relies on Russia's Gazprom for all its gas supplies. But the country of 2.6mn people has been seeking to renegotiate its long-term supply contract for several years without success, instead only securing short-term extensions to the existing deal.
On September 30, gas transmission operator Moldovagaz and Gazprom agreed to a one-month extension until the end of October. As the extension was agreed only a few hours before the contract's expiry, Gazprom had no means of reserving the necessary transit capacity via Ukraine, Moldovagaz, which is part-owned by the Russian supplier, said on October 6. Gazprom has therefore been supplying only two thirds of the 80mn m3/day that Moldovan consumers need, Moldovagaz said.
Spinu previously said that Moldova would pay $790/'000 m3 of Russian gas this month, up from $550/'000 m3 in September and almost five times the average price the country paid in 2020. The prices are "not justified and not realistic for Moldova," the deputy minister said on October 11.
Under Moldova's long-term contract, the country pays hub-based prices for gas during the warmer months of the year and prices indexed to diesel and fuel oil during the heating season. But under the short-term extension, the same hub-based pricing that applied in September also applies for this month, even though the heating season has begun.
Spinu said Moldova would seek Russian gas via routes other than Ukraine, as well as supplies from Romania and other EU states. The country commissioned the Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline in August last year, enabling it to bring Romanian gas all the way to its capital Chisinau. But Spinu said in mid-September that there was still no gas flowing through the pipeline as some construction work still needs to take place in Romanian territory.