Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Monday that she had discussed with members of the government the supplementation of financial aid for the population, amid rising energy bills.

“I have discussed with colleagues in Parliament and the Government about the high bills for heat and gas, which are a consequence of the continuous rise in the price of natural gas on the European market. We have established that additional measures are needed to help consumers pay for heating. I have asked the Government to identify, in the coming days, solutions to increase the compensations for thermal energy, and in case the tariff for natural gas will increase – to increase the compensations for gas as well,” says Maia Sandu, in a release quoted by G4Media.

Currently, the Moldovan authorities offer compensation for the first 50 cubic meters consumed and 6.8 Moldovan lei are paid. The next 100 cubic meters cost 7.9 lei each, and the consumption of over 100 cubic meters is paid at the full rate of 11.08 Moldovan lei (about 2.8 RON).

Moldovagaz signed a contract with Gazprom on October 30, 2021, an extension of the gas supply contract from 2007. The price is not a fixed one, but depends on a formula that takes into account 70% of the price of petroleum products and 30% of that of gas on the Spot market, but also other components that are not disclosed for reasons of “trade secret” of the agreement.

The Republic of Moldova paid about $450 per thousand cubic meters in November, $550 in December 2021 and will pay $646 per thousand cubic meters of gas from Gazprom for January 2022.