October 28 (SeeNews) - The European Commission is granting Moldova 60 million euro ($69.5 million) to help it navigate through an energy crisis due to difficulties in striking a new deal with Russia’s Gazprom, its traditional natural gas supplier, president Maia Sandu said.
The assistance is the result of constant dialogue between the Moldovan authorities and the European Union, Sandu said in a statement on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Moldovan prime minister Natalia Gavrilita met with Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Over the past few days Moldova bought a total 3.5 million cubic metres of natural gas from multinational company DXT Commodities, Dutch energy and commodity trading company Vitol and from Poland's PGNiG Group. These were the country's its first ever gas deliveries from a non-Russian source.
Moldova has no gas deposits of its own and covers all of its gas needs by importing the fuel from Russia.
On Friday, Moldova's parliament introduced a 30-day state of emergency starting October 22 due to a shortage of natural gas supplies. During the state of emergency, the government is allowed to buy gas under a simplified procedure.
Moldova's contract with Gazprom expired at the end of September and the government in Chisinau asked for an extension, but did not accept Gazprom's price offer of $790 (684 euro) per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, according to local media reports.
($=0.8631 euro)