CHISINAU, Oct 1 (Portal) – Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) cut natural gas supplies to Moldova by around 30% on Saturday, said Moldovagaz gas company director Vadim Ceban.
A day earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu said Gazprom had warned Moldova about cutting supplies. Continue reading
Spinu said on Saturday that technical problems are behind the reduction and the country will ask Gazprom to increase supplies.
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“The reason for the reduction in gas supply…was explained by Gazprom too late,” Spinu told a news conference, adding that technical problems could not be considered an “objective reason”.
Spinu said Moldova has about 53.5 million cubic meters of gas in underground storage facilities in Ukraine and Romania that could be used.
The country also plans to conserve gas by using fuel oil in its power generation units.
Ceban said earlier that Moldovagaz paid Gazprom $23.9 million on Friday to cover the remainder of a late September natural gas advance payment and settle the $35.9 million debt.
There had been fears in Moldova that Gazprom could stop supplying gas to one of Europe’s poorest countries from October 1st.
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Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Pavel Polityuk; Edited by Kirsten Donovan
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