Moldova to resume purchase of Russian gas 'if conditions are right'

Moldova on Tuesday said that it is keeping its option open for buying Russian gas from state giant Gazprom 'if conditions are right.' The head of the Russian gas giant's local subsidiary was reported as saying that the resumption of the gas supply to the pro-Russian separatist Transdniestria region is on the cards. One of Europe's poorest countries, Moldova had given up on the Russian gas imports after Russia's President Vladimir Putin declared war in neighbouring Ukraine. The country has been involved in disputes related to the pre-war payments for Russian gas.

Moldova has been determined to keep the imports of Russian gas intact as it utilises it at the power station in Transdniestria that produces the country's 80% electricity. The rest of Moldova uses gas from Europe's state-owned gas and power company Energocom.

'We can’t give up on gas': Moldova's President Sandu

Last year, as Russia pressed for its gas buyers to fulfil its demands of making payments in rubles amid the western sanctions, instating measures such as halting the exports of gas to NATO-member Poland and Bulgaria, Moldova, the latter admitted that it had no substitute to Russian gas or back up option. Moldova's officials, at the time, had boasted about finding a replacement for the Russian gas in an effort to curb energy reliance on Moscow after it ordered an all-out military invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. Energy Minister of Moldova Victor Parlikov had announced that Russia itself might halt the deliveries to Moldova 'at a certain stage.' 

Moldova's President Maia Sandu had acknowledged that Russian gas for her country was irreplaceable and expressed hope that deliveries by Russia’s state-owned Gazprom would continue despite an unsettled debt. "We find ourselves in a very difficult situation," Sandu said in a televised interview. "We can’t give up on gas when we have no other alternative. Electricity supply also depends on gas, so there's no alternative here, too,” she added. It is to be noted that Moldova’s contract with Gazprom already expired in May, last year. For the deal to be extended, the country has to complete an audit of its massive outstanding debt for earlier gas deliveries before the Russian side.