Moldovagaz Asks Gazprom for More Time on Debt Audit 

Moldovagaz said on Tuesday it had asked Russian energy giant Gazprom, which holds a 64 per cent stake in the company, for more time to conduct an audit of historical debts beyond a May 1 deadline amid fears of a cut-off in gas supplies.

In October last year, Gazprom said Moldova owed it $709 million for previous gas supplies, a sum Moldova's pro-Western government flatly dismissed. Chisinau demanded an audit be conducted to determine the true size of the debt to Gazprom.

The two sides set a May 1 deadline for the audit but have yet to agree who would carry it out.

"Moldovagaz has sent a request to Gazprom for an extension of the audit period for historical debts accrued for natural gas consumption," Moldovagaz boss Vadim Ceban said on social media.

While Gazprom holds almost two-thirds of shares in Moldovagaz, 35 per cent still belongs to the Moldovan economy ministry.

Last week, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu raised the prospect of a cut-off in Russian gas, but said Moldova would find supplies elsewhere.

"We will not pay any debt without a financial audit," he said. "From an energy security perspective, after May 1 there is no risk of being disconnected from gas or electricity. Moreover, even if Gazprom decides to terminate the contract, we will have somewhere to buy gas at the market price."

The price might be higher, he said, but it is a price Chisinau is willing to pay to be free of the "Russian pincers," he said.

At the end of October, Moldovagaz and Gazprom extended a five-year gas contract originally signed in 2007.

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