Refilling at PECO stations of domestic gas cylinders with liquefied petroleum is not allowed according to the provisions of the effective legislation. The Ministry of Economy says this, in reply to IPN Press Agency, as a result of several notifications from citizens about the impossibility of refilling their domestic stove gas cylinders at the gas stations.

Thus, according to the Ministry of Economy, the bottling of gases in cylinders for domestic or technological uses is carried out at distribution and bottling stations for liquefied gas (SDÎG) or at bottling stations for liquefied gas (SÎG). Also, the filling, the transport, the periodic technical verification, etc. of these cylinders, is performed by specialized companies that have the approval of the expert body in the field of industrial security.

"In accordance with the effective normative acts, the bottling of gases in the cylinders for domestic or technological use is allowed only at the distribution and bottling stations of the liquefied gases or at the bottling stations of the liquefied gases", the answer says.

The Ministry of Economy declares that the license for the retail sale of liquefied gas at the filling stations, issued for each station by the National Agency for Energy Regulation, allows holders to market the liquefied gas only for car transport. "At the moment there is no type of license that would allow the bottling of gases in the cylinders of domestic or technological inside PECO stations", is mentioned in the answer.

According to the Ministry, the market for petroleum products from the Republic of Moldova operates under market economy conditions and, due to the lack of demand from consumers of liquefied petroleum gas at SDÎG and SÎG, most of these stations have been preserved. According to the information presented by the Technical Supervisory Agency, at the beginning of 2019, 2 SDÎG were operating on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, in the municipality of Balti and in the district of Comrat, the village of Bugeac and 24 SÎG in several regions of the country.

The Ministry says that, in order to solve the problem in the future, it has developed an Action Plan on adjusting the normative and legislative framework, which will be implemented after approval by the central public authorities. Likewise, the possibility of carrying out the activity of delivery and installation of domestic cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas at home by specialized companies is to be examined by the authorities.