CHISINAU, October 27 (Reuters) – Moldova has received a 60 million euros ($ 70 million) grant from the European Union to tackle its energy crisis, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Wednesday.

Moldova’s gas contract with Russian Gazprom (GAZP.MM) expired at the end of September and the two failed to agree on a new price.

In recent days, Moldova has bought gas from Europe and the government has said it will continue talks with Gazprom.

Moldovan state energy company Energocom said on Wednesday it had purchased 1.5 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas and delivery is slated for October 28 via Ukraine and Romania. The gas would be supplied by DXT Commodities and PGNiG.

The government has announced its intention to purchase around 5 million m3 of gas by the end of October. He refused to give prices for the purchases.

Gazprom has announced that it will suspend gas exports to Moldova if it is not paid for previous deliveries and a contract for December has not yet been signed.

“The support of 60 million euros to help manage the current energy crisis is great news for the #moldavian people,” Moldovan Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said in a separate statement.

Moldova, which began new talks with Gazprom on Wednesday, declared a state of emergency last week.

The Kremlin on Wednesday denied a press report suggesting that the Russian company was using gas talks with Chisinau to try to get political concessions and said the negotiations were purely commercial.

Moldova, currently ruled by the pro-Western government of President Sandu, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union and has been at the center of a political standoff between Russia and the West since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

($ 1 = 0.8629 euros)

Reporting by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau and Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; Editing by Alison Williams, Mark Potter and Aurora Ellis

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