The chairman of the Parliament’s commission on social protection, health and family Dan Perciun said the reduction in the purchase price of gas in February will not result in a decline in gas rates, but the people will feel a reduction in tariffs when the downward trend in prices on the international market persists for several months. The PAS MP noted that the citizens will not be abandoned to cope alone with the burden of bills in winter and the state will partially cover the tariffs for households and businesses, IPN reports.
According to the president of the Administration Board of Moldovagaz Vadim Ceban, the purchase price of gas in February is by US$100 lower than in January. However, the gas rates for end users will not be adjusted as the purchase price of US$550 for February is anyway higher than the price included in the initial rate, said Dan Perciun.
“It is very important to start to prepare for next winter as swiftly as possible. First of all, we must make natural gas reserves in Ukraine. This is a widely used practice and Ukraine has enormous gas storage capacities,” Dan Perciun stated in the talk show “The Four Estate” on N4 channel.
The MP noted the state is making colossal financial efforts to partially cover the rates. The subsidies provided in the cold period will exceed 2.6 billion lei. The Government is considering the possibility of covering a part of the rate after March too, depending on the purchase price of gas, the air temperature and if there is peace or a war in Ukraine.
“The subsidization package for the business community is of 200 million lei. The additional package provided in January totaled 1 billion lei – 800 million lei for the citizens and 200 million lei for businesses. This 1 billion lei supplements the 1.6 billion lei we offered starting with last October. The amounts collected so far into the state budget are higher than planned and this money can be used to pay subsidies after March,” stated Perciun.
On January 28, the National Agency for Energy Regulation decided to increase the natural gas rates from 11.08 lei to 15.18 lei with VAT included. The new rates will be applied as from January 1. In accordance with the Government’s decision, the old subsidization mechanism for household users will be kept and the state will partially subsidize the first 150 cubic meters of consumed gas. The state will also subsidize the first 500 cubic meters of consumed gas for all business entities.
