● MONDAY, November 28
Gazprom will not slash gas supply to Moldova
The Russia gas company Gazprom has announced that it will not cut the amounts of gas supplied to the metering station “Sudja” as Moldovagaz cleared the debts for the gas consumed in November. This way, the money for the amounts of gas intended for Moldovan consumers that were kept on the territory of Ukraine reached the company.
Gazprom will not slash gas supply to Moldova
The Russia gas company Gazprom has announced that it will not cut the amounts of gas supplied to the metering station “Sudja” as Moldovagaz cleared the debts for the gas consumed in November. This way, the money for the amounts of gas intended for Moldovan consumers that were kept on the territory of Ukraine reached the company. “At the same time, we warn about the frequent violation by the Moldovan side of the contract provisions concerning the payment for the supplied Russian natural gas. Gazprom reserves the right to cut or halt the gas supply if payments are not made on time,” the Russian company noted in a press release.
● TUESDAY, November 29
Dinu Plîngău about accident at Termoelectrica: It is sabotage and damage to state budget
The Republic of Moldova daily sustains losses of millions of lei owing to the accident at Termoelectrica as the electricity shortage needs to be covered with purchases from the foreign market at a price that is five times higher, said the chairman of the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” Dinu Plîngău after the party formally asked prosecutors to investigate Termoelectrica’s decision to select the Moldovan company Horus for rehabilitating one of its cogeneration units.
Andrei Spînu: Electricity shortage for November 29 represents 74%
Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spînu said the sudden rise in the price of electricity on the foreign market is an inexplicable phenomenon. As a result of this, Moldova for November 29 has an electricity shortage of 74%. Not to plunge the county into darkness, Energocom will purchase emergency power whose price will become known later, but this varies between €200 and €300 per 1MW/h as the previous purchases show.
Prices of gasoline and diesel fuel fall under 25 lei/liter
The Platts quotations for gasoline and diesel fuel continue decreasing and pump fuel prices in Moldova decline correspondingly. For November 30, the National Agency for Energy Regulation set the price ceiling for gasoline COR 95 at 24.86 lei/liter, while for standard diesel fuel at 24.92 lei/liter.
Horus presents its stance on situation at Cogeneration Unit No. 3 of Termoelectrica
The incident at Termoelectrica SA has nothing to do with the tasks carried out by Horus Energy during the repair works on Cogeneration Unit No. 3, in accordance with the signed contract, said representatives of the contractor. They noted that the installation that broke down wasn’t among their tasks and the company fully fulfilled the contractual obligations.
● WESNESDAY, November 30
Average monthly salary in ICT sector exceeds 26,000 lei
The highest average monthly salary in the third quarter of 2022 was reported in the information and communication technology sector – over 26,000 lei. The financial and insurance sectors rank second with an average salary of over 20,000. In the electricity, heat, gas, steam and air conditioning supply sectors, the average pay was about 17,000 lei.
Energocom will buy power from Hidroelectrica again as of Dec. 1
As from December 1 SA Energocom will purchase again electrical energy from the Romanian company Hidroelectrica – 100 MWh band (24 hours of 24) during December 1-11 and 20 MWh band since December 12 until December 31. According to the contract, the purchase price is 450 RON/ MWh.
Electricity charges raised again
Electricity charges have been increased again. Households in central and southern Moldova powered by the energy supplier Premier Energy will pay 5.91 lei/kWh, up from the current charge of 4.77 lei/kWh. In the northern regions, households powered by Furnizarea Energiei Electrice Nord will pay 5.60 lei/kWh, up from 4.81 lei/kWh at present. The hikes were approved by the National Agency for Energy Regulation on Wednesday and will take effect when they are published in the Official Gazette. They are slightly lower than the charges requested by the power suppliers.
€40 million German grant in budget support disbursed
The €40 million foreign financing provided by the Federal Republic of Germany in non-reimbursable budget support was transferred to the accounts of the Ministry of Finance. The money is designed to help Moldova implement the government program “Meter Assistance” as part of which the population will benefit from energy subsidies for November 2022 – March 2023.
EBRD provides an extra €100m for rehabilitation of roads in Moldova
The Government endorsed an amendments to the lending agreement between Moldova and the EBRD for the building and rehabilitation of roads in the Republic of Moldova of June 28, 2013, which was signed in Chisinau on November 11, 2022. The amendment provides the EBRD will lend an additional €100 million to Moldova to finance the rehabilitation of roads near its border with Ukraine, adding to an existing €150 million loan in 2013 for road upgrades.
Start-up subsidies for the unemployed to get bigger
Unemployed people willing to start a business will get a subsidy of 80% of the total startup cost, provided that the amount does not exceed 20 national average salaries for the previous year, under a Government resolution adopted Wednesday.
Termoelectrica to receive 10,000 tonnes of fuel oil from national reserve
The governmental Material Reserves Agency will lend 10,000 tonnes of fuel oil to Termoelectrica, as decided by the Government. The measure is supposed to allow the utility to continue supplying the population and socially important facilities with electricity and heat, amid an energy crisis caused by reduced gas supplies from Russia.
● THURSDAY, December 1
Staff-level agreement: US$27m more from a total of about US$287m from IMF
The Moldovan authorities and IMF staff have reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies for completion of the second review under the ECF/EFF arrangements. The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board, which is expected to discuss the authorities’ request in January 2023. Completion of the review will make SDR 20.65 million (about US$27 million) available to Moldova, bringing total disbursements under the program to about US$287 million.
Russian gas in December to be bought for US$785 per 1,000 m3
SA Moldovagaz in December will purchase gas from the Russian company Gazprom at the price of US$785 per 1,000 m3, IPN reports, with reference to the president of the Administration Board of Moldovagaz Vadim Ceban. He noted that the same amount of 5.7 million cubic meters of gas a day will be delivered in December.
EC signs new financial agreement for crisis response and renewal in Moldova Ukraine
The European Commission announced a new financial agreement of €1.8 million to enhance direct support to city and town authorities that are members of the Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) Facility network in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Seventy percent of the grant component will be available for Ukrainian local authorities, and 30 percent to local authorities in Moldova.
● FRIDAY, December 2
Gasoline and diesel fuel sold at same price
Gasoline COR 95 and diesel fuel during the next three days will be sold at the price of 24.49 lei/liter each. This is the price ceiling set by the National Agency for Energy Regulation for December 3-5.
Renewable energy companies close to insolvency make call to Premier
The renewable energy companies of Moldova, which said they are close to bankruptcy, noted they haven’t been heard by the authorities yet. According to them, the state does not enable them to export the energy they produce, but also does not create conditions for them to feed this back into the national electricity grid at advantageous prices.
Local renewable energy companies announce Japanese strike
A group of renewable energy companies of the Republic of Moldova announced Japanese strike. This way, they want to warn about their difficult situation now that they have to sell the electricity the produce to only two distributors that have a monopoly. They accuse the state of not providing solutions. One of the solutions is to ensure Energocom purchases electricity from local producers in a centralized way.
New electricity charges took effect
The new electricity charges were published in the Official Gazette and consumers will this way pay more for power as from December 2. As the National Agency for Energy Regulation decided, households in central and southern Moldova powered by the energy supplier Premier Energy will pay 5.91 lei/kWh, up from 4.77 lei/kWh. In the northern regions, households powered by Furnizarea Energiei Electrice Nord will pay 5.60 lei/kWh, up from 4.81 lei/kWh.
Savings interest could be taxed at 12%
Savings interest could be taxed at 12% next year, compared to this year’s 3%, the draft budget and tax policy proposes. During a talk show on Radio Moldova, Minister of Finance Dumitru Budeanschi said that it would be fair to tax savings interest just like other form of individual income.
● SATURDAY, December 3
Moldova makes historic purchase of gas in reverse flow via Trans-Balkan pipeline
The Moldovan state company Energocom has bought 4.3 million cubic meters of gas from the Mediterranean region – through the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector, via Romania, to be stored in Ukraine – to test how this route works in reverse flow mode. This was announced by Energocom acting director Victor Bînzari in a Facebook post.
HORECA local tax in Chisinau to be raised back to 5%
In 2023, the local tax in the HORECA sector in Chisinau municipality will return to the pre-pandemic rate of 5%. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the tax rate was lowered to 3% of the taxable base to support businesses in the field.
Deposits of individuals and legal entities are decreasing
During nine months of this year, deposits of individuals and legal entities decreased. Also, there was an increase in the absolute value of expired loans, non-performing loans and, as a result, the worsening of the quality indicators of the loan portfolio compared to the end of the previous year, the National Bank of Moldova reported.