Energy expert Sergiu Tofilat believes that, regardless of what President Igor Dodon and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agree upon, gas prices for the Republic of Moldova will drop next year. According to him, gas prices in the European Union are decreasing. "For example, today we pay $240 per thousand cubic meters, while gas prices in the EU already dropped below $120", said Sergiu Tofilat in a Radio Free Europe interview.

"The import price we pay today is established on the basis of the contract signed between Moldova-Gaz and Gazprom. The price changes quarterly based on a formula. Current tariffs are dependent on previous year gas, fuel and diesel prices on the EU market. In other words, what we pay today is dependent on previous year EU prices”, explains the expert.

According to him, if Igor Dodon managed to negotiate something with Vladimir Putin, this must be confirmed by a document. Price reductions can be reduced either by an additional agreement to the Moldova-Gaz contract with Gazprom, which modifies the calculation formula, or by eliminating the Gazprom export tax, because today about 25% of the price consists of the export tax. "If Mr. Dodon fails to show us a document confirming any agreement with Putin or Gazprom, I cannot believe his statements, because, based on the current formula, the gas will be cheaper anyway. That is why it remains to be seen what will Mr. Dodon present in order to confirm his agreement with Gazprom or Mr. Putin”, said the expert.

Sergiu Tofilat explained that the gas tariff was last established in March 2018. In the previous year, at the end of 2017, the real import price was 3 000 lei, while the tariff was calculated at the price of 4 194 lei, which implies that it had to be reduced at the beginning of last year. ANRE reduced the tariff and used 3 156 lei as the basis of calculations. In conclusion, today, the gas tariff is established on the basis of an import price of 3 156 lei, while the real price Moldova pays is 4160, which is 1 000 lei more than the basis of the calculation.

The President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, who paid a visit to Moscow, said that he agreed with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, that this year, the price for natural gas should not increase, and in the next year, it will actually be reduced.