The state will provide subsidies to household users for the natural gas, centralized heating and electrical energy used in November 2022 – March 2023. The highest amount that will be subsidized in the case of natural gas is of 180 cubic meters a month per household, up 30 cubic meters from last year’s ceiling. The prices for household users will vary depending on the vulnerability category that will be decided by November 25, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marcel Spatari announced in a news conference.

Within a consumption of 180 cubic meters a month, the final price of gas for consumers from the very high energy vulnerability category will be 12 lei per cubic meter. This way, 17.27 lei per cubic meter of gas will be subsidized. The maximum subsidy in the bill for this category will be 3,110 lei.

For consumers will high energy vulnerability, the final price will be 14 lei per cubic meter and the maximum subsidy will be 2,750 lei. For those from the moderate vulnerability category, the final price will be 17 lei per cubic meter of gas, while for consumers with reduced energy vulnerability will 24 lei per cubic meter.

For household users of heat, the highest amount that will be subsidized is 1.3 gigacalories. The final charge for consumers will be 1,450 lei per gigacalorie, 1,700 lei per gigacalorie, 1,950 lei per gigacalorie and 2,500 lei per gigacalorie, depending on the energy vulnerability category. The subsidies will range from 1,175 lei in Chisinau and 1,430 lei in Balti to 1,825 lei in Chisinau and 2,080 lei in Balti. The subsidies in smaller towns will be around the same values.

Subsidies will also be provided for an amount of electricity of at most 75 kWh per household a month. The most vulnerable consumers will pay a final charge of 3.3 lei/kWh a month, while the final charge for the second vulnerability category will be 3.7 lei/kWh.

Marcel Spatari said that about 645,000 applications to determine the energy vulnerability category have been received through the platform compensatii.gov.md so far. The energy vulnerability category will be decided automatically by the system by November 25. Those who didn’t manage to register will be classed as moderately vulnerable, but in December these families will be added to the low energy vulnerability category so as to be motivated to register.

Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița told the same news conference that the coming winter will not be easy, but the authorities are braced for it. “We are doing our best for no one to be disconnected from the gas, electricity and heat supplies. We didn’t yield to the blackmail to which we were subjected and didn’t accept to sell the national interest for short-term benefits,” stated the official, noting that the support program this year is much better targeted than last year’s program.