The president of the Administration Board of SA “Moldovagaz” Vadim Ceban said that if the natural gas rates are not raised, the company will accumulate a significant deficit. The forecasts deriving from the tendencies witnessed on the international market are that the purchase price will decline. This does not mean that the rates for consumers will be decreased. An eventual decline in the purchase prices will offer the company flexibility and a greater maneuvering space for making the payments to the Russian company “Gazprom”. An eventual decrease in rates for consumers can be requested only after all the negative financial deviations are recovered, IPN reports.

Vadim Ceban told a news conference that the effective purchase price of natural gas this month is by 21.3% higher than the rate approved for household users. The total tariff deviations exceed 2.6 billion lei.

The forecast purchase price of Russian gas in the first quarter of this year is US$333.47 million. The cost included in the approved rate is US$218.2 million. If the rate remains unchanged, the company will have a deficit of US$115.27 million.

If the purchase price of gas declines in the course of the year, it does not mean than the rates will be corrected immediately. The price for January, of US$670 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, wasn’t included in the rate as this would have pushed the tariff up. An average price was included in this.

Vadim Ceban said the amounts collected from consumers for gas in December were rather high and they are hopeful that the same pace will be kept in January. Moldovagaz cannot yet allow the consumers to pay the bills in installments.