The contract with Gazprom, which was extended on December 25, provides that Moldova will be supplied with 2.97 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Speaking about the delivery price of gas, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said that 1,000 cubic meters will be bought for US$365, which is by about US$10 less than this year, IPN reports.
Before the December 26 meeting of the Government, the official said the reduction in the delivery price does not mean that the tariffs for end-users will be lower as the charges are also influenced by other factors, including the exchange rate.
According to Valeriu Lazar, the Government will make everything possible to negative a new contract for the supply of gas during next year. There are preconditions in this respect. The merger of three companies working in the thermoelectric sector was agreed in order to solve the problem of debts for gas. Also, methods are being looked for to reschedule the debt of the Transnistrian region.
Also on December 25, there was signed a contract for the transportation of over 19 billion cubic meters of Russian gas a year through Moldova.
