Moldovan deputy PM says gas supplies limited by 30 per cent in October

Chisinau, 1 October /MOLDPRES/ - The gas supplies on behalf of the Gazprom Russian giant have been limited by 30 per cent in October. Deputy Prime Minister, Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Andrei Spinu made statements to this effect at a news conference today.   
The official informed about the latest developments as to the energy situation in Moldova for October. ‘’On 30 September, the Moldovagaz stock company fully paid the advance for September to Gazprom. Moldovagaz received the partial confirmation of the volumes for the current month. As much as 5.7 million cubic metres/day was confirmed out of those 8.06 million cubic metres of gas per day. In this respect, the situation from last October is repeated, when the supplies were limited by 30 per cent. If Gazprom does not provide the 30 per cent, it will be supplied from Energocom’s reserves (53.5 million cubic metres) through daily tenders or the reserves can be made daily at a decision by Gazprom. We assure you that the government makes its utmost to provide each home of Moldova with gas, electricity and heating,’’ Andrei Spinu said.       
As for the supplies of electric energy for October, the deputy PM stressed that Energocom had signed more contracts on supply. ‘’A contract was signed with the Kuchurgan power station for 67 per cent of the procurement at a price of 62.5 dollars/MWh for October. As for 30 per cent, a contract was signed with the Energoatom Company at a price of 77 dollars/MWh for 1-15 October. At the same time, for 3 per cent of the acquisition (balancing of the peak consumption), a contract was signed with Ukrhydroenergo, at a price of 132 dollars/MWh for 1-15 October. Thus, the weighted average price for October is 68.9 dollars/MWh,’’ Andrei Spinu noted.     
The deputy prime minister gave assurances that, on this period, the citizens would not be disconnected from the gas or power supply. He urged the residents to save energy resources, stressing that the cabinet would continue making reserves and preparing for winter.