Gazprom to Raise Prices for Moldova
Gazprom is to lift gas prices for Moldova to $160 from $110 per 1,000 cu. meters, the highest price for a CIS country. The decision of the Russian gas monopolist apparently came as a reaction to Moldova’s denial to increase Gazprom’s stake in Moldovagaz, the national gas pipeline operator, to 100 percent.
Russian Gazprom holds 50 percent in Moldovagaz, Moldova’s pipeline operator, while 35.3 is owned by the Moldovan government. The general meeting of Moldovagaz presented the company’s results for 2005 on Friday. Moldovagaz reported $12 million in net profits, the biggest in its history. The money will be primarily spent to repay old debts. Alexander Ryazanov, head of Moldovagaz’s supervisory board, deputy chairman of Gazprom board and head of Sibneft, did not attend the session. Gazprom did not issue any comment on the results of the meeting.
A source of Kommersant in Gazprom explained this position saying that talks with the Moldovan government have reached a stalemate, and the republic should no longer hope for low prices. Moldova asked for $80 per 1,000 cu. meters at the start of the year, which was still the loftiest price in the CIS in 2005. Gazprom raised the price to $110 but noted that it would stay only in the first half of the year.
Moldova offered the Russian gas monopolist a number of investment projects to take part in. However, Gazprom did not find them lucrative enough. The only thing Gazprom was interested in was driving up its stake in Moldovagaz from 50 to 100 percent. Moldovan authorities refused to sell the assets, though. In this case the price hike to $160 seems unavoidable, sources in Gazprom say.
Moldovan Economy and Trade Minister Valery Lazar would not comment on the reports yesterday.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 29, 2006
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