By CHISINAU. Sept 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Moldova has enough energy for the winter season, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said.
“Moldova has never been so well prepared for the winter season as it is now,” Recean said in an interview with the JurnalTV channel on Thursday.
“This applies to energy resources. I want to emphasize one more thing. This was not so difficult to achieve. Yes, it was expensive, yes, from a political point of view it did not look very good. But we had to make up our minds, be honest and make practical decisions. I repeat yet again, we have never been so well prepared for winter, we have never been so independent from either Russia or the Transdniestrian region, that does not matter, in terms of energy. We have become independent,” Recean said.
Recean said on September 6 that Moldova would not repay what he called “the non-existent” debts to Gazprom after Energy Minister Victor Parlicov presented results of an international audit of Moldova’s debt to Gazprom. “Moldova will not repay the non-existent debts. We will not allow this debt to burden our citizens. Moldova is not going to repay non-existent debts, and, obviously, Moldovan citizens do not have to pay either,” he said.
The auditors did not confirm the historical debt of Moldova estimated by Gazprom at $709 million. Parlicov said that most of the debts are either not confirmed or not enforceable. The auditors also said that Moldovagaz was entitled to make financial claims to Gazprom. The Moldovan government offered to repay $8.6 million to Gazprom in order to settle the gas debt dispute.
