Court decides ANRE won't pay damages to Moldova-Gaz

The National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) won't pay damages to Moldova-Gaz and its eight subsidiaries across the country after the Chisinau Court of Appeals today rejected a 1.8 million lei claim from the plaintiffs, Info-Prim Neo reports. ANRE lawyer Violina Varatic told reporters after the decision was pronounced that the outcome was predictable, considering two precedents in this case. She added that the ANRE decided to make this case public to show what kind of claims - “sometimes stupid” - it has to deal with. Violina Varatic recalled that Moldova-Gaz and its eight subsidiaries decided to sue the Agency after it prescribed them to change their attitude towards service provision. “We received multiple complaints from consumers and we advised these companies to improve the quality of their services. However, they considered themselves hurt and claimed that we had no good reason to admonish them”, said Violina Varatic. For their part, Moldova-Gaz representatives said they disagreed with the decision and would appeal it. Moreover, the claim would rise to 1.9 million lei. Today's decision may be appealed in a higher court within 15 days. ANRE is involved in other suits brought by Moldova-Gaz as well, with the claimed damages totaling roughly 5 million lei.