Spînu about rise in natural gas tariff: We will provide subsidies

05.10.2021 07:00
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The Government will subsidize the rise in the natural gas tariff, especially for the vulnerable categories of people, said Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu, admitting that the heat tariff this year will be higher owing to the rise in the price of gas worldwide. Spînu noted that the current contract with Gazprom will be extended or a new contract will be signed by the end of October, IPN reports.

Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development, said the negotiations between MoldovaGaz and Gazprom go on. Even if the price of gas will be higher than last year, it will anyway be advantageous to the Republic of Moldova amid the global explosion in the price of gas.

“The formula is anyway advantageous to Moldova in the current international context. The price of gas at international stock exchanges now exceeds US$1,000. We asked to extend the contract based on the old price calculation formula for at least one more year. We consider the old formula is advantageous when the price at international level grows at an unprecedented pace. We haven’t witnessed such a situation when the price of gas increases for four or even five times. As the discussions didn’t produce an end result, it was decided to extend the contract with the formula for the third quarter for a month. We have a month at our disposal and the discussions will continue,” Andrei Spînu stated in the program “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau channel.

Deputy Prime Minister Spînu said the state will provide support during the cold period of the year so as to make sure that all the citizens can pay their bills.

“The Government will come up with a package of subsidies and this will be more generous for the vulnerable ones. We consider that those who consume more have higher incomes and can cover the price rises. The vulnerable ones will be helped to pay the bills, as Romania did by introducing a subsidy directly in the bill,” said Andrei Spînu.

He noted that during the negotiations with Gazprom, they also raised the problem of the historical debt of MoldovaGaz to Gazprom, which grew to US$450 million. Under the contract with Gazprom, the purchase price of gas for October will be US$790 per 1,000 cubic meters.