Moldova offers USD9M to clear USD700M debt with Gazprom
Date
10/30/2023 2:32:59 AM
(MENAFN) On Friday, the president of Moldova announced the republic's willingness to settle a debt of over USD700 million with Gazprom by offering a payment of just USD9 million.
"It's Gazprom's problem that they didn't recognize (results of audit). We have evidence the audit was conducted by well-known companies in this area. Moldovagaz can pay Gazprom USD9 million, not USD700 million," Maya Sandu informed a regional TV channel.
Prior to this, Chisinau consented to waive claims for shortage of supply since October 2022 (about USD160 million) and pay compensation for "deviations from the tariff" totaling USD153.57 million.
Two years ago, the Russian energy corporation Gazprom requested that Moldova pay off outstanding debt related to gas delivery in order to extend the contract for additional gas deliveries.
Moldova acknowledged only USD8.6 million of the USD709 million owed to Gazprom, citing the findings of an audit by the Norwegian Wikborg Rein Advokatfirma AS and the British Forensic Risk Alliance. It claimed that USD276 million "are not documented" and that the deadline for paying USD400 million "has expired."
Moldovan government had requested to "forgive" the debt "in difficult economic period" and fees for late payments as well.
Since the audit was conducted by organizations that could not be regarded as "independent," "unilaterally," or without cooperation with Gazprom, it was unable to challenge the legitimacy of the debt, and as a result, Gazprom did not acknowledge the audit's findings.
According to Gazprom, the Russian business will stand up for its rights and disagrees with the Moldovan side's claims regarding the debt for the gas that was supplied.
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