September 6 (SeeNews) - Moldova is in talks with Romania and Azerbaijan on signing long-term natural gas supply contracts, fearing disruptions in deliveries from Russia after October, deputy prime minister Andrei Spinu said.
"We are in talks with our colleagues in Romania, we already said that we want to sign a long-term supply contract with Romania in order to make use of below-market prices. We are also continuing talks with Azerbaijan to see whether we can sign a long-term deal," Spinu, who is also minister of infrastructure, said during a talk show on local PrimeTV on Monday evening. "We are constantly looking for other sources, but these are the most realistic ones at the moment."
As Moldova is connected to the European Network of Transmission System Operators, it can buy the necessary natural gas volumes at any time, Spinu added.
The country is using funds from a $300 million (287 million euro) loan received from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in June to purchase natural gas, Spinu also said.
Moldova has no gas deposits of its own and covers all of its gas needs by imports from Russia.
At the end of August, Moldova's National Commission for Emergency Situations, CSE, requested state-owned energy trader Energocom to buy 10 million cubic meters of natural gas from public supplier Moldovagaz for storage in Romania.
In March, Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu said that his country is ready to build on its territory a gas storage capacity or host gas for Moldova in order to help it reduce its dependence of Russian gas.
In April, president Maia Sandu said that Moldova cannot stop purchasing gas from Russia but the government is looking for alternatives.
($= 0.9575 euro)