Government to seek long-term contracts for gas purchases and prepare higher winter compensation

The government will seek solutions for concluding long-term contracts for the purchase of natural gas in order to secure more advantageous prices. At the same time, the authorities will examine the possibility of providing higher energy compensation during the cold season to support citizens amid rising prices. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan announced this today at the beginning of the government meeting.

The prime minister said that the authorities cannot influence gas prices on international exchanges, but they can make efforts to identify long-term contracts at more advantageous prices and support citizens through compensation payments.


“We all know how serious the situation is. This year, we planned for the cost of gas to be €30 per MWh. Today, gas has exceeded €84 per MWh, although it has declined in recent days. That is more than $1,000 per 1,000 cubic meters. We cannot control these things. Everyone must understand: we cannot control the current cost of gas. However, we can control two things: preparing for next winter and trying to find long-term contracts, attempting to fix the price, at least for part of the long-term contracts. And we should not have any illusions about where this gas is, because it is not in Sweden or in other liberal democracies. We will have to go to more complicated countries to find it, open doors, and find a way to reach these people in order to obtain this gas. I have seen the criticism. I want to reiterate: we will go wherever this gas is; we will go there to find it and bring it to Moldova. It is very important that we do this—in Qatar, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and all other countries. It is complicated. We will go and look for this gas, no matter how difficult it may be. There will be very complicated negotiations for us to secure prices below the market level. We should not believe that someone is sitting there waiting to give us gas below the market price. We will not go to the Russians; we will not go to Putin. Apart from that, we must consider all opportunities,” Vasile Tofan said at the beginning of today’s government meeting.


At the same time, the prime minister assured the public that the government is examining ways to support citizens through higher energy compensation payments amid rising prices for energy resources.


“The second thing we can do is maximize compensation, with the limited resources we have, for the winter period. This is something we can do. We must look at budgetary resources, and we must also look to our external partners, with whom we speak every day. Every day we negotiate, including today with Ms. Plugaru, and we are holding a major meeting where we are trying to secure and maximize these compensation payments,” Vasile Tofan emphasized.