Monday 22 November 2021
Gas delivery stop in 48 hours
Gazprom issues an ultimatum to Moldova
Only last month, Moldova and the Russian state-owned company Gazprom extended their contract by five years. The protracted gas dispute seems to have been resolved. Yet another escalation threatens. The company announces that it will turn off the gas tap. Unless there is still money flowing quickly.
In the energy dispute with the Republic of Moldova, the Russian energy giant Gazprom has threatened to interrupt gas deliveries if the country fails to pay a bill for gas deliveries that have already been made. The contractually agreed payment deadline is November 22nd, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupryanov said on NTW. The company had informed the “Moldovan side that the gas supplies to Moldova would be stopped in 48 hours according to the contract”.
Gazprom is “deeply disappointed that Moldova is not meeting its contractual obligations,” said Kupryanov. The company signed the gas contract with the government in Chisinau, which was extended at the end of October, “practically on the terms of the Moldovan side”. The prerequisite for this, however, is that Moldova pays its bills in full and on time.
The extension of Gazprom’s gas contract with Moldova for five years was preceded by tough negotiations. As a result of a gas price increase by Gazprom, the government in Chisinau declared a state of emergency in October and purchased gas from Poland on the basis of this. It was the first time since Moldova became independent in 1991 that the country, lying between Romania and Ukraine, signed a gas treaty with a country other than Russia.
The transit of Russian gas supplies to Moldova traditionally takes place through Ukraine and the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria. Politically, supporters of the pro-European President Maia Sandu are opposed to forces in Moldova who are striving for closer rapprochement with Russia. Experts saw the increase in Russian gas prices for Moldova as an attempt by Moscow to punish Moldova for electing Sandu as president last year.
Moscow, for its part, accused Moldova of failing to meet payment deadlines and threatened to stop gas supplies. The Kremlin rejected allegations by the West that Russia was pursuing geopolitical goals with the threats. The dispute with Moldova was of a purely commercial nature, it was said from Moscow.