MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti)-Gazprom will raise the price of natural gas supplies to Moldova by 45% from $110 to $160 per 1,000 cubic meters, the energy giant said Thursday.
The price rise will come into effect in the third quarter this year.
Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller informed Moldova's Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev about this decision earlier in the day. They also discussed Gazprom's participation in investment projects in Moldova's energy sector given that Moldova was currently forming a system of tax preferences for investment projects.
Gazprom said it had supplied 2.82 billion cu m of natural gas to Moldova in 2005. Moldova's gas debt stands at $687.1 billion, including $565.3 billion debt of its breakaway region of Transdnestr.
The Russian energy giant is seeking to raise the price it charges for natural-gas supplies to former Soviet republics to market levels.
