MINISTER OF ENERGY VICTOR PARLICOV: MOLDOVA WILL BUY GAS WHERE IT WILL BE CHEAPER

The Minister of Energy of Moldova, Victor Parlicov, stated that starting from May 1st, Moldova will purchase gas where it is cheaper. As reported by "INFOTAG," the minister announced this on Wednesday evening during the TV show "New Week with Anatolie Golea" on TV8 channel.

"At the end of April, the contract between Moldovagaz and Energocom expires. The contract was signed by the National Emergency Situations Commission, under emergency conditions. After the contract expires, we will switch to market conditions in terms of gas supplies - purchasing where gas is cheaper," the minister said.

According to him, the company Moldovagaz will have to make a request for proposals (RfP) on the stock exchange.

"We already have a branch of the Romanian Commodity Exchange operating. Testing has been conducted, and the platform functions as a regular gas exchange. At the end of April, Moldovagaz should submit a request on the exchange with a price restriction, taking into account the price of Gazprom for May, which will be known by that time. Based on the proposals, purchases will be made. If Gazprom offers a lower price, then from May to September, we can purchase some gas from the volume supplied by Gazprom," Parlicov sstated.

The official reminded that this is only possible in the warm season since Gazprom unilaterally reduced gas supplies to 5.7 million cubic meters per day, and so far, all this volume is consumed by the left bank of the Dniester.

Answering journalist's questions, the minister noted that "everything depends on the price and volumes of gas, but there are no other prohibitions on purchasing Russian gas."

"It is understandable that there is a political issue related to the war in Ukraine. I want to clarify on this matter: as of now, the European Union has not imposed sanctions on Russian gas. Some EU countries have, but overall, the EU has decided that Russian gas will be supplied to Europe until 2027. We proceed from this. Moldova can make a political decision to refuse Russian gas. But such a decision can only be made by the parliament, beyond the legislation in the energy sector. Until then, legislation allows us to buy gas where it is cheaper," Parlicov emphasized.