Moldova orders Moldovagaz to buy 451 mcm of gas from Energocom in Q1

CHISINAU. Dec 28 (Interfax) - Moldova's Emergency Situations Commission on Wednesday ordered Moldovagaz to purchase 451 million cubic meters of gas from state company Energocom in the period from January to April 2024, according to a decision posted on the government's website.

The price of the gas will be 550 euros per 1,000 cubic meters. Moldovagaz and Energocom are supposed to sign a gas contract by December 29.

The decision also states that all of the 689.7 mcm of gas received from Russia's Gazprom in this period will go to Transnistria. It is expected to be used, among other things, to general electricity the Moldovskaya GRES power plant.

Moldova has been in a state of emergency for about two years under which the authorities require Moldovagaz to buy all gas from Energocom, while Moldovagaz and Gazprom have a five-year gas supply contract. All the gas received from Gazprom goes to Transnistria, while the rest of the country uses gas bought from Energocom in tenders.

The state of emergency is set to be lifted at the end of 2023, as the authorities do not intend to extend it. Therefore, after the state of emergency ends Moldovagaz will continue to buy gas from Energocom at least until the end of this heating season.