Four lawmakers of the political bloc ACUM have written to the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure and the National Energy Regulatory Agency requesting details about electricity imports from the Transnistrian region. Alexandru Slusari, Igor Munteanu, Maria Ciobanu and Arina Spătaru complain in particular that the import contracts are awarded in a non-transparent manner and outside the legal framework.
The inquiring MPs want to know in particular “which laws give the MoEI the power to create committees for selecting importers of electricity and why the requirements for such importers are not public”, and “why calls for bids are held in a non-transparent manner, without involving experts and civil society representatives”.
Also, the ACUM lawmakers question the rationale of having intermediary importers at all, when the much simpler and more transparent solution would be for the utilities to buy electricity directly from the powerhouses, under article 70 of the Law on Electricity. Further, buying imported electricity from a supplier that fails to pay for the gas used in production is, according to the ACUM lawmakers, against international rules.
“For many years now, by paying electricity bills, consumers on the western side of the Nistru have in fact supported the separatist regime, contributing significantly to the debt owed by our country for the natural gas delivered by Gazprom”, argue the lawmakers.