The Federation Council questioned the need to support Moldova with gas supplies

Russia will get nothing from Moldova except strengthening the pro-Western course of the country if it supports it with gas supplies, declared Aleksey Pushkov, Chairman of the Federation Council Commission on Information Policy and Interaction with the Media, on his Telegram channel.

Thus, he commented on the information that the chairman of the Moldovan opposition party “Shor” Ilan Shor is ready to visit Moscow to negotiate gas supplies to the country. In his statement the politician asks the Russian government and the leadership of Gazprom to “warm our homes and help Moldova gain true independence for our country.”

According to Pushkov, this request means that “Moscow should actually subsidize the presidency [Майи] Sandu”, because the country is not able to pay for gas supplies on time and repay the accumulated debt.

“It looks strange, since Sandu does not hide his orientation and his bad attitude towards Russia. What is the point for us to support the pro-Western course of present-day Moldova with gas supplies? In response, we will get nothing but the strengthening of this pro-Western course. Neither thanks nor a change of policy can be expected from Sandu. So do we need to fund such a course?” the senator wrote.

Since 2011Gazpromand Moldovagaz annually extended the gas supply agreement. The validity 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. On October 29, the contract was extended for five years. According to the document, Russia agreed to the formula proposed by Moldova, subject to the timely payment of current payments and the repayment of historical debt.

In August, the Moldovan authorities concluded an agreement on an independent financial and legal audit of Moldovagaz’s debt to Gazprom and Factoring Finance, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said.

At the same time, it became known that Moldovagaz lacked $14.8 million for an advance payment for supplies, the company asked “Gazprom» on the deferment of advance payments for August and September 2022. The Russian supplier, as an exception, allowed the advance payment for deliveries for August to September 1.

In October 2021, Gazprom reported that the debt of Moldovagaz to the Russian company for the supplied gas was $433 million, and taking into account late payments, $709 million.