January 9 (SeeNews) - Moldova is interested in buying natural gas through the EU joint gas purchasing platform, prime minister Natalia Gavrilita said over the weekend.
"Access to this platform will allow us to strengthen the process of ensuring Moldova's energy security, which is affected by blackmail from the Russian Federation," Gavrilita said during the meeting with European People's Party president Manfred Weber on Saturday, as quoted in a statement on the government's website.
The EU joint gas purchasing mechanism is set to kick of this year as part of the EU Energy Platform created in April in response to the need to diversify from Russian gas and support all EU member states and Energy Community contracting parties in securing gas supplies for the 2023-2034 winter.
Moldova has no gas deposits of its own and covers all of its gas needs by imports from Russia.
In November, Gazprom decided not to cut gas exports to Moldova after energy company Moldovagaz paid for quantities stuck in Ukraine, but stressed that it reserved the right to reduce or halt gas supply if the country defaults on its payments.
At the beginning of October, Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban said that Gazprom cut deliveries to Moldova by some 30%, blaming technical problems associated with the restriction of transit through Ukraine.
Gazprom owns 50% of Moldovagaz, the Moldovan government owns 35.33% and 13.44% is held by the government of Transnistria, the pro-Russian separatist republic within Moldova.