Moldovagaz lacks almost $15 million for the advance payment to Gazprom in August

The company “Moldovagaz” lacks $14.8 million for the advance payment to “Gazprom” for deliveries in August, reported head of the Moldovan company Vadim Cheban in his Telegram channel.

“Due to the incomplete tariff coverage of all costs associated with the purchase, supply, transportation and distribution of natural gas, the cash gap of JSC Moldovagaz will amount to 285.4 million lei ($14.8 million) in August,” he said.

Ceban added that the expected financial revenues from the sale of gas to the population in August will bring about 402 million lei ($20.8 million), while the purchase of Russian gas will require 667 million lei ($34.6 million). Of this amount, 299.7 million lei ($15.5 million) accounted for the balance for July, and 367.9 million lei ($19.11 million) for the 50% advance payment for August.

Cheban also drew attention to the fact that the change in tariffs for the population in August will not affect the situation, since the first receipts at the new regulated prices will be only in September.

About the fact that Moldovagaz will not be able to make an advance payment to Gazprom for gas supplies in August, Cheban told the day before. He noted that the company had already asked for a delay in payments, but had not yet received a response. Cheban himself hopes that in the fourth quarter a different pricing formula will be applied, due to which the purchase price will decrease, as prescribed in the contract.

When asked what would happen ifGazprom”will not grant a deferment, Ceban did not answer, he only said that the shareholders should take into account the fact that such a situation in the company arose due to the conditions of the Moldovan legislation.

The cost of gas purchases in August for Moldova amounted to $1,458 per 1,000 cubic meters, it is expected that by September the price will rise to $1,692 per 1,000 cubic meters. On August 4, the Moldovan National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) raised gas prices from 18.62 lei to 23 lei per cubic meter (based on the average purchase price in 2022, which is $899 per 1,000 cubic meters). Moldovagaz, on the other hand, asked for a price of almost 30 lei per cubic meter to cover tariff deviations.

In October last year, Moldovagaz and Gazprom extended the gas supply contract for five years. According to the formula proposed by Chisinau, the price of gas is partly linked to the oil product basket and partly to spot gas prices in Europe. Thus, in November, the purchase price of Russian gas for Moldova was $450 per 1,000 cubic meters. m. Under the contract that expired in September, Moldova paid for gas an average of $148 per 1,000 cubic meters. m.

Subscribe on Vedomosti on Telegram and stay up to date with the main economic and business news.