ANRE revokes Moldovagaz license amid Russian accusations
Russia’s Gazprom energy giant, the majority shareholder of SA Moldovagaz, is accusing Moldovan authorities of "deliberately destroying" its subsidiary in Chișinău.
This accusation follows the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE)'s decision on August 4 to withdraw the company's natural gas supply license. Experts, however, say that Moldovagaz will continue its business activities in Moldova.
In response to the ANRE decision, Gazprom stated that the Moldovan authorities' move represents "the final stage of the deliberate destruction" of Moldovagaz and "the expropriation of Gazprom's investment."
Gazprom announced that it will "defend its legal rights and interests by all available means."
In the same statement, made public on August 7, the Russian gas giant brought up the alleged historical debt of $709 million that the right bank of the Dniester owes for gas consumption. Chișinău does not recognize the debt, as it was disproved by an international audit in 2023.
The Russian gas giant's statements are "false" and "manipulative," with a clear "political character," affirms Alexandr Slusari, a member of the Board of Directors of SA Energocom.
"The representatives of Gazprom and Moldovagaz know very well that this company still has many diversified businesses in Moldova, such as gas distribution services, pipeline rental, and a number of methane and renewable energy fueling stations. So the statement about the destruction of the Moldovagaz company is wrong," Slusari declared.
Gazprom is not demanding $13 billion from Tiraspol
According to Slusari, the alleged debt invoked by Gazprom is a "cynical approach."
"The debt issue is the most cynical approach I have seen. They claim that the poor Gazprom concern has always been a trusted partner that only pursued commercial goals in its relationship with Moldova, but that the people in Chișinău are bad and failed to pay the $709 million. They say the concern was then forced to stop gas deliveries so the gas giant wouldn't incur losses. You'd almost cry out of pity if you didn't know about the 30-year gas supply to the 'black hole' known as Transnistria. You, at Gazprom, have not demanded a single penny from there, and you put the debts, which have reached almost $13 billion, on Moldovagaz's account, contrary to all accounting standards. According to the gas supply contract, Moldovagaz is legally responsible for the delivery of gas to the left bank of the Dniester. So who is destroying this company? You, or the government of Moldova?" Alexandr Slusari asked.
The former deputy made sure to specify that Moldovagaz was required to comply with the provisions of the Third Energy Package, which are mandatory for any state intending to join the European Union—a requirement that was not met.
"By the way, in all European Union states where Gazprom operates through its companies, it has complied with the requirements of European energy legislation without many questions. In the Republic of Moldova, the implementation of Package III has been postponed more than once since 2010," Slusari pointed out.
It is worth recalling that on August 4, ANRE withdrew the natural gas supply license from Joint Stock Company Moldovagaz. According to ANRE, Moldovagaz had not fulfilled the conditions related to the unbundling of natural gas production, transport, and distribution activities by July 31.
ANRE reported that Moldovagaz informed the institution in July of its inability to complete the unbundling, citing a lack of consensus between the majority shareholders and the company's management exceeding its competencies. In the same letter, Moldovagaz expressed its openness to collaborating with the new supplier, Energocom, to which public service obligations were assigned.
ANRE has obliged Moldovagaz and Energocom to carry out all necessary organizational measures by the end of August without affecting the supply of natural gas to the more than 800,000 consumers.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
