Large consumers will be forced to buy gas only on the free market as from January 1, 2025, Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov announced at a press club meeting, stating that this option will allow attracting more consumers and suppliers to the market, IPN reports.
Victor Parlicov said that when prices fell on the international market in spring and suppliers appeared on the free market, some of the consumers wanted to change suppliers, especially large consumers, and the possibility of forcing the liberalization of the natural gas market started to be considered then so that all large consumers cannot remain protected consumers on the regulated market and are obliged to take part in the free market and buy gas only on the free market as from January 1, 2025.
“This way, we want more consumers and more suppliers to appear on the market and this market eventually becomes a more liquid market that will gradually migrate to a commodities exchange. If we see that this market gradually gains liquidity, we are ready to organize this market and give work to the commodities exchange so that this trades in wholesale gas exactly as it is done, for example, in Romania. In Romania, there is the Romanian commodities exchange that is a wholesale market operator for natural gas. We hope to develop exactly the same thing so that it become a reality in our country. And we are gradually pushing this thing. In general, the European directive recommends that all large consumers and subsequently average consumers migrate to the free market and we are gradually doing this,” stated the minister.
Victor Parlicov said that communication tools will be created to explain what a free market means, how it works and what a consumer must do to benefit from the option to buy gas on the free market.
The member of the Administration Board of Moldovagaz Ilie Tutunaru said that without natural gas records, without efficient distribution, the market cannot be liberalized. “We continue the development of gas networks. This year we built more than 99 km in 49 districts of the Republic of Moldova, modernizing distribution networks. We automate production processes by implementing telemetry, which allows to optimize distribution services,” he stated.
