Moldova will not have time to audit its debt to Gazprom in time

Moldova will not have time to audit its historical debt to Gazprom before October 1, 2022, informed in his Telegram channel, Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Spinu following negotiations with the head of the Russian company Alexei Miller.

He noted that following the results of yesterday’s video communication and today’s phone call with Miller, “Gazprom» confirmed the September volumes of gas supplies and the extension of the audit until October 1.

“In this regard, I said that the verification is not possible until October 1 and once again pointed out the need to extend the deadline until March 31, 2023. We will continue discussions in the next period as well,” Spinu said.

Since 2011, Gazprom and Moldovagaz have been annually extending the gas supply agreement. The validity period of the next contract ended on September 30, 2021, but the parties could not conclude a new contract for a month due to Chisinau’s debts for past deliveries and the formula by which the price is calculated.

As a result, the agreement was extended on October 29 for five years, while Russia agreed to the formula proposed by Moldova, subject to the timely payment of current payments and the repayment of historical debt. Gazprom estimates it at $709 million. The Moldovan government believes that an independent audit should be carried out to determine the exact amount.

In February 2022 Spinu declaredthat the Russian holding may terminate the contract for the supply of gas to the republic due to disagreements over the debt of Moldovagaz. Prior to this, “Gazprom” accused the representatives of Moldova that they unilaterally set the conditions for attracting an auditor to check the debt of “Moldovagaz”. The press service of Gazprom explained that representatives of the Moldovan Cabinet of Ministers did not come to the meeting of the supervisory board of Moldovagaz, at which “approaches to the audit” were to be agreed.

August 11 Spinu informedthat the Moldovan authorities have concluded an agreement on conducting an independent financial and legal audit of Moldovagaz’s debt to Gazprom and Factoring Finance. The contract was signed with the Norwegian Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and the British Forensic Risk Alliance & Co. Both companies undertake to audit the republic’s gas debts by January 30, 2023.