Energocom has launched the procedure for buying natural gas with EBRD funds following the completion of the third stage of choosing potential natural gas suppliers, with eight companies prequalifying as a result. The first tender contest will be held on Monday and all the eight companies will be invited to bid, IPN reports, with reference to a press release issued by Energocom.

The purchased gas will be stored and consumed in the first quarter of 2024, according to the requests made by Moldovagaz. The procurement procedure will take place in accordance with the EBRD’s rules, with the diversification tranche of €100 million from the loan offered to Energocom being used again. In order to ensure transparency, representatives of the shareholder of Energocom, the ministry in charge, different state institutions and of civil society were invited to the tender contest.

Eight of the 11 companies that contended at the third stage prequalified. These are: Depa Commercial SA (Greece), Engie S.A (France), Engie Energy Management Romania SRL (Romania/France), Axpo Bulgaria EAD (Bulgaria/Switzerland), Axpo Solutions AG (Switzerland), Trafigura Nat Gas Limited (Malta/Switzerland), Trafigura Trading SARL (Switzerland), Met Austria Energy Trade GmbH (Austria/Hungary). According to Energocom, even if the given companies are part of groups of companies, each of the company was assessed separately so as to determine their individual capacities.

The EBRD loan, made under the Bank’s €2 billion Resilience and Livelihoods Framework supporting Ukraine and neighboring affected countries, was divided into two tranches - a €200 million emergency tranche that was to be used in case of supply disruption, and a further €100 million that was to be used to create a strategic gas reserve. Both of the tranches were used the previous year and were fully repaid.