Maia Sandu calls Moldova's debt to 'Gazprom' fabrication
President of Moldova Maia Sandu (photo: Getty Images)
Moldova has commissioned an audit to identify its debt to Russian "Gazprom" amounting to $800 million. According to its findings, no debt of "Moldovagaz" was discovered, states Moldovan President Maia Sandu, according to "Vidomosti".
The official statement on the results of the audit conducted by foreign experts will be made by the Moldovan government next week.
Sandu stated that during negotiations with "Gazprom" before the 2021 winter season, the Russian side decided not to renew the contract "at the last moment," and Moscow wanted to "quickly deceive" the Moldovan delegation.
"It's still unknown to the public, but next week, our government will come out and say that we hired an international company that conducted an audit and confirmed that we have no debts (to 'Gazprom') amounting to $800 million. They wanted to deceive us quickly. They left us without gas. Winter is coming," the Moldovan President said.
Moldova's debt to "Gazprom"
Earlier, in Russian "Gazprom," it was claimed that the debt of "Moldovagaz" for the supplied gas supposedly amounted to $433 million, and taking into account overdue payments - $709 million.
The Moldovan government decided to conduct an independent audit to clarify this figure. The audit covered both subsidiary companies of the enterprise and legal entities directly or indirectly related to the gas industry.
The audit was completed in July.
