“Moldova may purchase between 10 million and 50 million cubic metres of natural gas from Ukraine. The final volume will depend on the availability of spare reserves and the commercial terms of the deal. Potential purchase volumes will be influenced both by contracts already in place and by the availability of gas for supply to Moldova,” the minister said on Tuesday during a programme on Radio Moldova.
According to him, the issue was discussed last week during a government delegation’s visit to Kyiv, after which Moldova carried out a test purchase of gas, importing 2 million cubic metres.
Junghietu declined to specify a possible gas price or the formula used to calculate it, so as not to influence the course of the negotiations: “These are commercial negotiations, and we cannot disclose the pricing formula at this stage. The purchase must be commercially advantageous for Moldova. Negotiations are ongoing; we want to secure a price below market value. That is the current situation.”
10–15 euros cheaper
Energy expert Sergiu Tofilat believes that such a purchase could slightly reduce the average price of gas bought by Moldova.
“They [the Ukrainians] are not in the business of charity and do not sell gas cheaply — they sell it at market price. At the moment, this option is more attractive to us, as Ukraine is nearby and the costs of transporting the gas are significantly lower. This means we can save 5–10 euros per megawatt-hour compared to the exchange price,” explained Tofilat.
However, export volumes may be limited: Ukraine’s gas infrastructure has been damaged by Russian attacks, and the country itself needs to meet domestic demand.
“I don’t think we’re talking about large volumes. Gas production facilities have been bombed; many plants have been damaged and destroyed. Both gas production and consumption have fallen. Ukraine meets around 90 per cent of its needs through its own production, so it can only sell us relatively small volumes. Perhaps this gas will last for a few weeks,” the expert clarified.
It should be recalled that on Tuesday, Energocom reported that it had purchased gas on European exchanges for November at a price nearly 11 euros per MWh higher than in October.
This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.
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