(Reuters) -Russian gas giant Gazprom on Thursday denounced a move by Moldova’s gas authority to withdraw the licence from its local subsidiary for distributing gas, saying the move damaged its affiliate and jeopardised Moldova’s energy security.
Moldova’s gas regulator, the National Agency for Energy Regulation, this week said the licence to distribute gas had been withdrawn from Moldovagaz, 50% of whose shares belong to Gazprom, and turned over to the state-run Energocom company.
Distribution of gas to 800,000 consumers, it said, would be taken over by Energocom from September 1.
The dispute centres on what Gazprom describes as Moldova’s failure to pay at least $709 million in arrears for gas supplies, mainly from state-run industries.
Moldova, citing audits, says it owes no such debts, which were the focal point of a halt of gas supplies in January. The cutoff, which coincided with an end to gas transit through Ukraine, halted gas supplies for weeks to homes and industry in Transdniestria, a pro-Russian separatist region on Moldova’s border with Ukraine.
Gazprom, in its latest statement, said Moldova had failed to resolve the debt issue, adding the gas concern had issued proposals to find a solution to the arrears.
“The Moldovan government has introduced a series of measures leading to, in the final analysis, the forced reorganisation of Moldovagaz … a sharp rise in gas prices and, as a consequence, a decline in the country’s energy security,” Gazprom said.
Gazprom said it would continue “to defend its lawful rights and interests with all available means.”
Moldova has long been in dispute with Gazprom over prices and what the Russian gas giant describes as arrears. It has actively sought to reduce reliance on Russian supplies and clinched agreements to purchase gas from suppliers in Europe.
It said its decision was taken as Gazprom was demanding payment of arrears it did not recognise and was failing to implement changes demanded by the European Union on separating responsibility for transporting and supplying gas. Moldova’s pro-European government is seeking EU membership by 2030.
Moldovagaz Chairman Vadim Ceban said this week the issues were “political” in nature and therefore out of the company’s control.
(Reporting by Reuters Moscow and by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau; writing by Ron Popeski; editing by Chris Reese)
