The Republic of Moldova is provided with natural gas in a proportion of 80% of the total consumption during the cold season. The existing supplies are sufficient for December and January, and Moldovagaz is to make purchases for February and March. The data were presented at public discussions staged by the Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance in connection with the recent increases in natural gas charges, IPN reports.
Minister of Energy Victor Parlicov said that companies are in charge of gas purchases, while the Government and the Ministry are taking the necessary steps at the political level. At the same time, the executive intervenes by providing compensation to vulnerable categories during the cold period of the year.
Alexei Taran, one of the directors of the National Agency for Energy Regulation, referred to the structure of regulated prices. He said that the cost of natural gas accounts for around 75% and this means that any variation in the purchase price directly influences the need to intervene in the regulated prices.
According to Alexei Taran, if urgent and prompt measures had not been taken, deviations or tariff deficits would have started to accumulate due to negative deviations. "Another risk is that we enter the winter months with high consumption. So, any difference per cubic meter in purchase prices would have increased exponentially and, according to our calculations, at the end of December we would have had 600 million lei in negative deviations. Thus, the need for urgent intervention in prices to stop this cumulation appeared," said Alexei Taran.
Moldovagaz interim president Vadim Ceban said that 563 million cubic meters of natural gas were purchased. These quantities cover the months of December and January, which means that 80% of the needs during the entire cold season will be met. Tender contests are held at BRM (BRM East Energy) for the purchase of natural gas for February. Gas is also being bought for March and February, with an amount of 163.4 million cubic meters being necessary.
According to Vadim Ceban, the massive purchase of natural gas began in July, when the quotations were the lowest. "We switched to the monthly procurement strategy because offers can appear. But these offers could not appear earlier than a period of six months. If we talk about purchases for the fourth quarter, you cannot launch purchases for this product. You can't get prices starting with May, June. July was the most appropriate time, in our opinion. The prices were convenient and we launched these purchases. Yes, indeed there is a very high fluctuation in the market. There was very high volatility namely in November. The months of December and January are covered. Purchases for February and March are to be made, of 78 million cubic meters and 85.4 million cubic meters, respectively," said the interim president of Moldovagaz.
Last week, the National Agency for Energy Regulation approved a 3.4 lei increase in the natural gas charge to 15.5 lei per cubic meter. With VAT, the charge is 16.74 lei. The adjusted rates took effect on December 1.
