The charges for the natural gas delivered to final consumers in the second quarter of the year will not be modified. The announcement was made on Tuesday, April 15, at a news conference, by the director general of the National Energy Regulating Agency (ANRE), Vitalie Iurcu, Info-Prim Neo reports. The invoked reason is that the financial deviations from the total costs included into the tariff will not exceed 3% during this period, a threshold enabling ANRE to adjust the charge. Vitalie Iurcu has said ANRE received the confirmation for the new price on imported gas for the second half of the year from SA Moldovagaz. It will be circa USD213 for 1,000 cubic meters, compared with the previous price of USD191. According to ANRE’s calculations, increasing the natural gas acquisition price does not imply the modification of the delivery tariffs for consumers, as the fluctuation encompasses into the 3% limit of the financial deviations included into the tariff in January this year. Because the Moldovan leu has appreciated, Moldovagaz, which pays Gazprom in US dollars, gathered reserves in the first quarter, deemed by ANRE to cover a good part of the expenses to be incurred in the second quarter, despite the higher import prices. The charge for the natural gas delivered to consumers was modified for the last time on January 18, 2008. The average tariff rose by 10.3%, from 2,515 to 2,775 lei/1000 m3. According to the contract concluded by SA Moldovagaz and Russia’s Gazprom, the price for the gas imported by Moldova is to gradually reach the average European level by 2011.