Moldovan Economics Ministry says Romanian gas imports to continue in 2016

Chisinau, 13 November /MOLDPRES/-The Economics Ministry denies allegations spread in media, according to which Moldova will stop Romanian gas imports this winter. “In conformity with legal procedures, Energocom will launch a new contracting procedure to select a gas provider in compliance with price-quality criteria, after the termination of the contract with OMV Petrom Gas”, a press release of the ministry says.

Moldova’s Energocom state company imports natural gas from Romania based on a contract signed with OMV Petrom Gas, valid until 31 December 2015.

The contract sees an annual amount of one million cubic meters of natural gas imports. As a  result of the evolution of the natural gas on the regional market and due to negotiations, the price Moldova pays per 1,000 cubic meters shrank from 1010 to 900 Romanian lei, equivalent to approximately 215 dollars.

So far, the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline transported 707 thousand cubic meters of natural gas to Moldova. The Economics Ministry said the contract stipulated that the rest of the gas would be imported by late 2015.

The press also wrote that the 26-million-euro investments in these projects had been useless. “The construction of the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline was the first stage of the project to interconnect Moldova’s gas system with the EU (Romanian) one. Operationally, at present the pipeline may only ensure the transition of natural gas to the afferent region, which accounts for up to one per cent of the country’s total overall consumption,” the ministry states.

The second phase of the project provides for “construction works to extend the pipeline to Chisinau (Ungheni-Chisinau pipeline), thus, allowing the diversification of gas import resources”. Currently, experts are carrying out a feasibility study to build the aforementioned pipeline, which according to the programme, should be completed by the first half of 2016, followed by the design and construction phase.

The Economics Ministry notes that Moldovagaz is currently importing natural gas from Gazprom, paying 210.21 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters.

“Romania will no more export natural gas to Moldova this winter. Besides the lack of demand, the pipeline connecting Moldovan and Romanian transporting systems has technical deficiencies. Hence, the 26-million-euro worth investment made in the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline, inaugurated in 2014, are useless, at least for the time being,” reads a story posted on economica.net news portal, taken over from other mass media sources.

(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor L. Alcaza)