Moldova’s gas crisis was a warning to Europe of the risks of being too dependent on Russia’s Gazprom, the chief executive of Poland’s state-controlled gas group PGNiG has said.
Moldova declared a state of emergency last month after Gazprom cut supplies to the eastern European nation by a third following the expiry of a long-term contract and demanded Moldova pay more than double the previous price to keep gas flowing.
People briefed on negotiations told the Financial Times that Gazprom had pushed for political concessions from Moldova’s new pro-EU government in exchange for cheaper gas. Gazprom denied this and said that the talks were “exclusively on commercial terms”. The two sides signed a new long-term supply contract on Friday but a copy of the agreement seen by the FT suggests Moldova made geopolitical concessions.
