Russia Cuts Off Gas To Moldova

RFE/RL reports that Moldova says Russia has cut off its gas supplies for the last two days because of a price dispute:

President Vladimir Voronin said today Moldova did not sign a contract with Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom on new prices for natural gas deliveries in 2006.

He said Gazprom wants $160 per 1,000 cubic meters, or twice as much as the country paid in 2005.

In Moscow, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kuprianov said the new price was "absolutely justified."

Moldova buys three billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually through a pipeline in neighboring Ukraine, which is also embroiled in a dispute with Gazprom over prices.

(Moldpres.md/Reuters/ITAR-TASS)