The decision concerning the new electric power tariffs for end-users was published in the Official Gazette on April 20 and thus the tariffs took effect. Victor Parlicov, director general of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), said the electric power used by April 20 will be paid according to the old tariffs, while after this date according to the new tariffs, Info-Prim Neo reports. For the first time, the Agency on April 15 fixed differentiated tariffs, depending on the voltage in the power distribution networks. For the consumers supplied by RED Union Fenosa through low voltage power lines (0.4 kV), the price will be 1.48 lei/kWh, up 11.3%, for those connected to medium voltage power lines (6-10 kV) – 1.34 lei/kWh (+0.8%), while for those connected to high voltage power lines (35-110 kV) – 1.07 lei/kWh (+1.6%). The charges for the end-users supplied by RED Nord and RED Nord-Vest through medium and low voltage power lines will be 1.45 lei/kWh and 1.57 lei/kWh respectively, up 1.4% and 9.8%. The customers of RED Nord-Vest connected to high voltage power lines will pay 1.20 lei/kWh, down 16.1%. Lidia Zestrea, head of the ANRE's Tariff Policy Division, said the differentiated tariffs are based on the reals costs incurred by the consumers. “The price of the electric power that includes the purchase price, the transportation tariff and technological consumption in the transportation networks is equal for all the categories of end-users. But the costs for supplying the electricity differ significantly,” Zestrea said. Earlier, Nicolae Mogoreanu, chairman of the Association of Energy Users, said the common electricity tariff disadvantages the industrial consumers and larger economic entities that have to subsidize the end-users connected to the low voltage power lines, which are mainly household consumers and small companies. “Cross subsidization will be eliminated gradually, until 2015, when the electric power market is to be liberalized, including for household consumers. If we had removed cross subsidization immediately, the tariffs would have been raised by about 22% for the customers of RED Union Fenosa and by 19% for those of RED Nord and RED Nord-Vest,” Lidia Zestrea said. Anatol Saracuta, division head at the ANRE, said the difference between the tariffs paid by the household users connected to low voltage power lines and the tariffs for the consumers connected to medium voltage power lines is now about 10%. “The tariffs for end-users have not been raised, but adjusted to the costs. If we decrease the tariffs for the household users and increase those paid by the industrial users, i.e. we continue the cross subsidization, the industrial users, the large economic entities connected to medium voltage power lines will include the higher tariffs in the prices of the goods and services and the population will be again affected,” explained Anatol Saracuta. The increase in tariffs follows the rise in the purchase price of power supplied by the Kuchurgan power plant and Ukraine.