Agreement on extending contract on gas supply to Moldova likely to be signed by late next November

Chisinau, 9 October /MOLDPRES/- The agreement with Gazprom company on extending the contracts on gas supply and transit for 2016 is likely to be signed by late November. "We are in active negotiations with Gazprom, which we hope to finalize till late November. We have real chances", Deputy Economics Minister Valeriu Triboi said.

"We are interested to have an as advantageous as possible price. Now we are importing gas at the price of 204 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters", he said. The import price of gas was cut from 312.2 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters in the first three months of 2015 to 252.2 dollars in the second quarter and 214 dollars in the third quarter.

The contract in force was signed in December 2006 and expired on 31 December 2011. Since then, it was prolonged consecutively in the next years. Moscow conditions the signing of a new agreement by giving up the documents signed within the European Energy Treaty and solving the problem on gas debts.

Moldova's debts to Gazprom company are amounting to 780 million dollars. "Now, along with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, we have possibility to reschedule the debts for a ten-year period. We have already started the negotiations with Moldovagaz company and we are to start talks with Gazprom too", he noted.

As for covering the electricity needs, Triboi pointed out that 30 per cent of consumption are covered from own production, and 70 per cent from acquisitions from Kuchurgan. At the same time, he added that there were talks with providers from Ukraine as well.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor A. Raileanu)