Moldova's purchase price for Russian gas to drop 6% in Feb to $354 per thousand cubic meters - Moldovagaz

CHISINAU. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Moldova's purchase price for natural gas from Gazprom in February will be $354.34 per thousand cubic meters, Vadim Ceban, Chairman of the Board of Moldovagaz, said in his Telegram channel.

"In February, the purchase price for natural gas supplied by Gazprom PJSC to the Republic of Moldova, taking the calorific value into account, will be $354.34 per thousand cubic meters. In January, this figure was $378.1. The entirety of the gas from Gazprom will be used for Tiraspoltransgaz LLC [in Transdniestria]," the post says.

This represents a 6.3% price decrease in February.

As previously reported, Moldova has not consumed gas supplied by Gazprom since December 2022. Gas is supplied to the Pridnestrovskaya State District Power Plant to generate electricity, which is then sent to Moldova.

The right bank of the Dniester (Moldova proper; Transdniestria occupies the left bank) purchases gas on the spot market both for current consumption and to create reserves for the winter. Moldovagaz currently provides gas to suppliers from state-owned Energocom, which buys gas from European traders.

By the beginning of the heating season, Energocom had created reserves of more than 600 mcm, which should be enough for the right bank of the Dniester through April 2024. Currently, there are still about 300 mcm of gas in reserve.

Earlier this week, Vadim Ceban did not rule out that as of May 1, gas from Gazprom could be used for the right bank of the Dniester. This is because the Transdniestrian region cannot use all the gas from Gazprom during warm weather periods, and the expected price would be lower than market prices.