Moscow-Sana
Russia's Gazprom announced today that it will stop supplies of Russian gas to Moldova if the accumulated debts are not repaid and a new contract is signed.
Sputnik quoted Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov as saying that "at the present time there is a very difficult situation regarding the supply of Russian gas to Moldova, and the blame falls on the Moldovan authorities," noting that we are talking about a crisis of non-payment for Russian gas.
He added, "If the gas supply payments are not fully paid, a new contract will not be signed as of December 1 of this year, and gas supplies will stop," stressing that the company is ready to extend the gas supply contract to Moldova in the event of the overdue debts being paid.
Gazprom's spokesman clarified that Moldova's accumulated debts against Russian gas amount to 433 million dollars, and with the delay in payment, the amount has become 709 million dollars, pointing out that the Moldovan authorities do not want to recognize the size of the accumulated debts.
In turn, a source in the negotiations that took place in the past two days regarding the conclusion of a new gas agreement between Gazprom and Moldova stated that the Russian side offered Moldova a fair price for gas in the market with an additional discount of 25 percent for the accumulated debts, but the Moldovan side insisted on reducing the price at a rate twice lower than the market .