Head of the Parliament after the Court of Accounts audit of Moldovagaz: "The Right Bank will not pay a penny for gas consumed in the Transnistrian region"
Moldovagaz is the Russian Federation's instrument of blackmail, and the right bank "will not pay a penny" of the more than $8 billion "historical debt" of the Transnistrian region. Igor Grosu, the head of the Moldovan legislature, made the remarks on Radio Moldova's "360 degrees" programme.
In December 2021, after Gazprom demanded payment of a historic debt of about $700 million, the parliament in Chisinau decided to conduct an audit of Moldovagaz. According to the official, this is the first audit made by the Court of Accounts at this company.
"This enterprise is the instrument with which the Russian Federation has been blackmailing us with gas. The law had to be changed so that the Court of Auditors could finally enter the company, and be provided with all the documents, accounting and so on, to conduct an audit. What we have seen are those irrational expenses, luxuries. 540 million lei to bury it in a luxurious building. Who needs that office, does it determine the quality of our work? Clearly there have been schemes over the years. It started from an investment of 200 million to 540 million", said Igor Grosu.
The authorities have also decided to audit Moldovagaz's debts to Gazprom, which are currently being handled by two European companies: "We are waiting for the external evaluation to come, we will compare them, we will see how much of those debts are actually attributed to us," the head of the legislature remarked.
Regarding the "historical debt" of the Transnistrian region, Igor Grosu said that the problem lies with the majority shareholder of Moldovagaz, which is Gazprom. "They have tolerated, consciously, temperately, turned a blind eye for decades. Nearly $8 billion in debt for gas consumed. Not gas consumed by the right bank. The right bank will not pay a penny for this gas. Whoever consumed it should pay, or those who tolerated it should assume this benefit. (...) If you are not a charity company then take it and demand from those who consumed it from the left bank," the official added.
The Court of Auditors' report on the audit of Moldovagaz was presented in Parliament at the end of last week. As a result, the legislature adopted a resolution on remedying non-compliance. As a result, the Government will start the procedure to reclaim 3.3 billion lei from Moldovagaz to the Public Property Agency (PPA).
