As the price of the gas supplied by Russia's gas company Gazprom will be by about US$40 per 1,000 cubic meters higher for the first quarter of this year, the authorities say a rise in the internal tariffs is inevitable. Experts say the verdict will be given by the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), which keeps silent yet. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Victor Parlikov, the new director general of the ANRE, said he cannot make comments and provide information as he will officially take up his post only after the Parliament's decision on his appointment is published in the Official Gazette. Parlikov also said that the ANRE will make related information public only in a week. Alex Oprunenko, analyst of the Expert Grup Association, said Gazprom increased the price following the rise in the prices of petroleum and crude oil on the international market. “The new tariff would include not only the purchase price of the Russian gas, but also the costs for maintaining the gas pipelines, etc. It is a more complicated formula. We cannot yet make forward projections,” Oprunenko said. The administration of the gas importer MoldovaGaz could not be found for comment. On January 4, Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar announced that Gazprom raised the price of gas for Moldova from US$192 per 1,000 cubic meters for the fourth quarter of 2009 to US$233 for the first quarter of this year.