The United Moldova Party (PUM) submitted an application to the Chisinau Court of Appeals, demanding that the decisions to raise the natural gas charges approved by the National Agency for Energy Regulation on January 14 and May 14 be annulled, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the calculations done by the party’s group of experts, the price paid by the end users currently per thousand cubic meters of gas is by 819.65 lei higher than the real price. In a news conference on Friday, the party’s leader Vladimir Turcan accused Moldova Gaz of obliging the 12 local branches to sign contracts for the provision of legal consultancy services with an offshore company from Cyprus, though these branches have their own jurists. Moldova Gaz pays monthly €1,550 for services that are not even provided, the MP said. “When I asked the administration of Moldova Gaz to provide information about these contracts, they told me it was a commercial secret,” Vladimir Turcan said. According to the PUM, the end-users are forced to pay gas charges that include unjustified costs, including for the transportation of the gas to Romania and Bulgaria through Moldova. The last time, the natural gas charges were increased on May 14. They then rose by 0.53 lei on average, to 4.1 lei per cubic meter for the users who consume up to 30 cubic meters a month and 4.53 lei per cubic meter for those who consume more than 30 cubic meters a month.