PGNiG, Eru win first urgent Moldovan gas tender

Poland's state-owned PGNiG and Ukrainian private-sector firm Eru won the first tender to supply gas to Moldovan state-owned Energocom.

The Moldovan government last week declared a state of emergency and gave Energocom permission to issue a tender for 5mn m³ of technical gas to supply state-owned Moldovagaz. The supply is needed to help Moldova meet its gas demand and maintain sufficient pressure in its gas pipelines, following a drop in deliveries from Russian state-owned Gazprom this month.

The gas will be delivered to an entry point at the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, with the first lot to be shipped today on prepayment terms. The price is determined by the TTF day-ahead midpoint assessed by Argus.

The first lot will be delivered to the Oleksiivka interconnection point from gas held on customs-free terms in Ukrainian storage facilities, a source at the Ukrainian system operator said.

Energocom received seven different offers, including from Ukrainian state-owned Naftogaz, and accepted the lowest-priced ones. Energocom has separately signed a contract with Naftogaz, according to which gas will be supplied at market prices to Moldova if needed. Ukrainian system operator GTSOU has additionally allocated over 15mn m³ of its operational balancing gas to the Moldovan operator, which will be delivered in the coming months until Moldova is able to meet its demand.

It is also possible to book capacity at the Moldovan-Romanian border, after Romanian system operator Transgaz and its Moldovan subsidiary Vestmoldtransgaz started auctioning capacity on the RBP booking platform earlier this month.

Moldovagaz is still negotiating with Gazprom on an extension of its long-term contract, and is considering alternative scenarios for gas purchases. Moldova cannot commit to paying a higher price for gas than other countries in the region, deputy prime minister Andrei Spinu said.

Gazprom proposed a contract that is partly linked to spot prices and incorporates a need to repay debts for earlier gas shipments, an industry source said. A Gazprom representative said that the company can completely stop gas supplies to Moldova if it does not repay its debt of $433mn, in addition to $276mn for the delay in payments until the beginning of a new contract.

By Victoria Dovgal