December 14 (SeeNews) - Moldovan deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister Andrei Spinu said that the country is considering taking legal action against Russia's Gazprom over the alleged breach of a natural gas delivery contract, Deutsche Welle Moldova reported.
"The fact that we have to buy gas and electricity from the market is Gazprom's fault and our lawyers are already looking into this," Spinu told Deutsche Welle in an interview on Tuesday.
Low supplies forced the Moldovan government to re-allocate funds and take loans, Spinu added.
Last month, Gazprom said it 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.
Moldova has no gas deposits of its own and covers all of its gas needs by imports from Russia.
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.
In November, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a 200 million euro loan ($211 million) to enable Moldova purchase emergency gas supplies.
($= 0.9494 euro)