Official: Moldova’s govt to allot funds for gas debt to Gazprom

CHISINAU, Nov 23 (PRIME) -- Moldova’s government will allocate funds to national gas company Moldovagaz for repayment of its debt to Russian gas giant Gazprom, and the state’s parliament will approve the decision on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spynu said on Tuesday.

“The emergency commission has decided to allocate U.S. $1.7 billion from the budget, of which $1.4 billion will be sent to Moldovagaz. Moldova’s parliament will approve the decision in the final reading on Thursday,” he said.

Spynu also said that he will send a letter to Gazprom to ask for a delay in suspension of gas supplies.

On Monday, Gazprom’s official representative Sergei Kupriyanov said that the company had notified Moldova that it could suspend supplies in 48 hours unless the bill due on Monday is paid because a recent contract envisages 100% payment for the current bills. Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban said that the company asked the government for a $74 million loan to pay the debt.

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