Gas transmission tariff remains unchanged

The gas transmission tariff across Moldova remains unchanged after the Supreme Court of Justice rejected a claim by Moldovagaz for the revision of the methodology used to calculate gas tariffs. The decision is irreversible, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to a press release from the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE), Moldovagaz also requested the Court to invite the Russian company Gazprom in the trial so that it would “provide an economic explanation of how gas tariffs should be calculated in Moldova”. This request was also rejected by the Court, which recognized the ANRE as the only agency invested with official authority to calculate, adopt and apply gas tariffs. Moldovagaz took the case in a bid to compensate the costs it incurred in transmitting gas by seeking a higher tariff for the end users. Moldovagaz calculated that the tariff should rise from 24.19 lei to 266.35 lei per one thousand cubic meters. However, according to the ANRE, the cost of gas transmission is not within the scope of the Tariff Calculation Methodology, but is exclusively a matter of contractual relations between Moldovagaz and Gazprom. If the transit fee is not enough to cover all costs, it should be renegotiated between the two parties, argued ANRE. ANRE thinks a rise in the transmission tariff is all the more unjustified since Gazprom pays just 18 lei for transiting gas to other countries through Moldova.