Prime Minister: We have obligation to provide Moldovan citizens with cheapest gas on market

Chisinau, Nov 21 /MOLDPRES/- Moldova has built up gas stocks to ensure consumption by late this year, and by the end of November we will also have the necessary stocks for January. Prime Minister Dorin Recean made the statements. He assured that citizens will be provided with both natural gas and electricity in the cold season.

"We will have natural gas and energy. The Republic of Moldova has already built up stocks by the end of the year, and by the end of this month we will also have the necessary stocks for January," he said.

As for the gas price, the Prime Minister said that the authorities have the obligation to provide Moldovan citizens with the cheapest gas on the market. According to the official, at this stage Russian gas is not the cheapest on the market. Recean noted that Energocom, Moldovagaz and the Ministry of Energy will publish an accurate analysis and will present all the transactions that took place and the decisions that were taken regarding the procurement of natural gas, in order to have clarity in this regard.

The official also gave details about the invitation received by Energy Minister Victor Parlicov to go to St. Petersburg for talks with Gazprom. The official said that during the visit, issues related to gas deliveries to the Transnistrian region and the approval of the new management of Moldovagaz are to be discussed.

"It is a very serious issue related to gas transit for the Transnistrian region. In general deliveries to the Transnistrian region, because beyond everything else, Moldovan citizens live there. Indirectly, we have responsibility for what are the living conditions there. Moreover, the right bank has electricity tariffs at the level we have by virtue of the fact that there is this transit of natural gas to the Transnistrian region and we have to discuss this accordingly there. (...) It is important for Mr. Parlicov to go. The interim director of Moldovagaz will also go, as well as the new appointed director of Moldovagaz, selected as a result of the contest, because the Board of Observers, which is essentially controlled by Gazprom, has not yet approved," Recean said.

The Ministry of Energy has prepared a winter plan with 44 measures applicable to energy and gas supply during the cold season. The plan also envisages two major scenarios, one of which is the refusal of Gazprom to deliver gas to the Transnistrian region on alternative routes after the expiration of the transit contract through Ukraine on January 1, 2025.