Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu promised on Tuesday that Moldova’s residents would not run out of natural gas, although utility company MoldovaGaz failed to pay the more than $74 million it owes Russia’s Gazprom group, Reuters reports.

“The government is in talks to identify solutions and guarantee the delivery of gas for the citizens of our country,” Andrei Spinu wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday, according to Agerpres.

On Monday, MoldovaGaz received a debt payment notification from Gazprom for 48 hours.

“At the moment, the debt is of US $ 74.2 million. The debt was created due to the purchase of gas in October at a price of over 790 USD / thousand cubic meters, and the gas tariff applied for October did not cover the difference. At the moment, Moldovagaz has not found a commercial solution to pay off this current debt. After the application of the modified tariff, from November, MoldovaGaz is obliged to pay in full the gas consumption for Gazprom,” said Spînu.

Last month, MoldovaGaz and Gazprom extended the natural gas supply agreement for five years. Then, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, stated that, with the signing of the new contract, the gas crisis has been overcome, and the Republic of Moldova will continue to receive Russian gas at a price it considers acceptable.

On Monday, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said Moldova had not paid its natural gas bill on time. Kupriyanov explained that, according to the signed agreement, MoldovaGaz is obliged to pay in full for the gas delivered by Gazprom. He added that Gazprom had informed the Moldovan side that gas supplies would be stopped within 48 hours.