Members and sympathizers of the two parties that formed the future bloc ACUM – the Party “Action and Solidarity” (PAS) and the Party “Dignity and Truth Platform” (PPPDA) – on December 3 mounted a protest in front of the National Agency for Energy Regulation, demanding that the heat tariffs and fuel prices should be decreased immediately, not one month before the elections, IPN reports.
According to a statement that was read by the PPPDA vice president Inga Grigoriu, this March the Agency reduced the natural gas tariffs and the heat tiffs should have also been cut by about 15%. Those from ACUM consider there are preconditions now for decreasing the fuel prices too. At the end of this July, Parliament decided that the fuel price ceilings will be set once in three months. Four months have passed. The crude oil quotes on the international market decreased by over 20%, but the law is not applied.
According to ACUM, the oil companies in Moldova benefit from the highest commercial profit margin in Europe - 3.25 lei or €0.16 per liter - being surpassed by Denmark only at a time when Moldova is the poorest state in Europe. The government, instead of disapproving of cartel agreements and of reducing the profit margin for oil operators, forces the population to pay a lot for fuel. The drivers and farmers pay exaggerated prices for fuel.
PAS vice president Mihai Popşoi said the delay in adjusting the heat tariffs when the winter is in full swing puts some of the categories of people in difficulty as they remain practically without money after they pay the heat bills.
Energy expert Tudor Şoitu said they anticipate the National Agency for Energy Regulation will adjust the tariffs before the parliamentary elections, at the request of the government. Until then the citizens will unjustifiably pay a higher price. The reduction will be made at the expense of the people who now pay much more for these services.
Contacted by IPN, head of the Agency’s press service Galina Sanduța said the Agency does not comment on political actions given the electoral context in which they were taken.
