Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița said the natural gas rates are exorbitant but this is due to the high purchase prices. “We see how the prices grow at international level but we also realize that there is a limit up to which the people can afford to spend. This is why the Government comes with this assistance programs intended for the people. Last year we directed over 1.7 billion lei to households and more than 600 million lei to entrepreneurs for partially covering the rise in heat and natural gas rates. This year we are working on the energy vulnerability program and will consider possibilities of financially supporting the people to pay the bills,” Natalia Gavrilița stated in a news conference given after the Cabinet meeting, IPN reports.

“I call on everyone to be solidary and to be concerned with energy efficiency,” urged the official. As to the subsidization mechanism, the Premier said that this will be made public at the beginning of October and the whole procedure for collecting data from the population will be explained then.

A cubic meter of gas as from October 1 will cost almost 30 lei. The National Agency for Energy Regulation approved a rate of 27 103 lei/1 000 m3 plus VAT of 8%.