Democratic Party MPs put forward draft motion on Government’s energy policy

Eighteen MPs that form part of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM) and unaffiliated legislators tabled a draft motion on the energy policy of the Government, Info-Prim Neo reports. The document, which was presented by MP Igor Clipii, raises a number of questions about the supply of Moldova with natural gas. The MPs denounce the continuing dependence of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) on the Government, which runs counter to the commitments made by Moldova to the European partners under the EU-Moldova Action Plan. If the motion is adopted, the Parliament will ask the Government to adjust the normative framework within three months so as to free ANRE from its tutelage. Thus, the agency will become independent both from functional and financial viewpoints, thing that the Government pledged to carry out three years ago, by signing the EU Moldova Action Plan, the PDM MPs say. The authors of the motion state that the Government did not implement a Parliament decision made in 2000. Under the decision, meters measuring how much natural gas supplied by Gazporm Moldova consumes and how much gas it transports via its territory must be installed at Moldova’s borders. As there are no such meters, “Moldovagaz” SA complains of huge losses in the network that are included in the tariff and the consumers have to suffer the consequences, the MPs said. The signatories of the motion propose that ANRE should provide the consumers with meters measuring the caloric power of the gas and not its volume, which is a rule in the EU. The MPs consider that such a measure will help to protect the rights of the consumers. When the gas is mixed with nitrogen from the atmosphere, the chemical composition of the gas changes and the output reduces, but this is not metered, the PDM MPs said. Another question raised in the motion is the building of gas pipelines from the Government’s and population’s money. As a result, the built pipes are property of none of them. The authors of the motion suggest that the Government in concert with ANRE set up a commission that would work out the documents of ownership over the given pipes.