| Gazprom forgave part of Moldova's debt According to Gazprom's budget, in 2004 the company's management set itself the task of collecting part of the old debts for gas in the amount of $300 million. The concern recently agreed on a significant share of this money with one of the most undisciplined payers - Moldova. Last week, the deputy chairman of the board of the concern, Alexander Ryazanov, agreed with the government of the country in Chisinau to repay the bills of the Ministry of Finance of the republic for $90 million, issued in 1997, to cover the debt for gas supplied. Taking into account penalties and fines, the nominal value of this debt increased to $115 million.
As a deputy of the Communist faction, which has a majority in the Moldavian parliament, told Interfax, the bills were repaid at a significant discount - about 55%. “We managed to pay off a debt of $115 million for $50-51 million,” noted the agency’s interlocutor.
Gazprom considers the agreements reached a success. “In Moldova, as of the middle of last year, the government debt amounted to 90% of GDP, and we are very pleased that we were able to get at least part of the “bad” debts with “real money,” a source at Gazprom told the Vremya Novostei newspaper. According to him, the decision to sell these bills at a discount was made by the company's board last fall. “We have established that we must receive at least 30% of the face value for overdue bills and at least 40% for “fresh” bills,” says our interlocutor. -- Of the repaid bills, approximately half were overdue, and the rest were due in 2005-2006. As a result, we will receive over 44% of the nominal value.”
An Interfax source emphasized that in parliament, where the “communists” control 71 out of 101 seats, they expect to receive a draft resolution of the government of the republic on the repayment of this debt in the coming days. According to him, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin on Tuesday addressed the faction with a request to support the draft resolution. Most likely it will be approved.
Experts from investment companies agreed that although the discount is too large, Gazprom receiving money from old debts in Moldova is generally a positive phenomenon. “This is the burden of past years, and Gazprom will have to bear it for a long time,” complains Valery Nesterov from Troika Dialog. “In addition, a company often has to turn a blind eye to its business interests for the sake of political considerations in Russia’s relations with a particular country.”
“The $64 million ceded by Gazprom will be written off as a “one-time loss from the sale of securities, but receiving real money from Moldova is good news,” states Maxim Moshkov from Brunswick UBS. At the same time, according to him, it is important how the rest of the debt of Moldova and especially Ukraine, which together amount to $3 billion, will be settled.
The Gazprom representative admitted that he has no idea how about $1.1 billion in debt from Moldovan consumers, which is not issued in the form of bills of exchange, can be collected. However, the other day Mr. Ryazanov said that Gazprom is still offering Chisinau to pay with shares and assets of industrial enterprises, which the concern could subsequently sell and thus receive at least part of the money in the coming years. Alexey GRIVACHS |
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