The National Energy Regulatory Agency approved the Regulation on switching gas suppliers for end users, enabling them to sign contracts with any supplier, including foreign ones, IPN reports.

“The consumer must follow the procedure detailed in the regulation, beginning with the notification of the current supplier, the payment of all debts and penalties before the date of the termination of the contract. After this, a contract may be signed with the new supplier”, said Andrei Sula, who presented the regulation. The document establishes the rights and obligations of the parties involved in the change of supplier. The whole procedure must be finished in 20 days. A new supplier is Ergocom, which obtained a gas supply license three weeks ago. The inhabitants of Ungheni district will switch to it and receive natural gas from Romania via the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline. In the first stage, about 12,000 people will be served by the new supplier, and the inhabitants of neighboring districts Calarasi and Nisporeni are expected to join later.

The public meeting was attended by several representatives of Moldovagaz, who complained that the regulation disregarded the interests of the current supplier. Head of the company's legal division Radu Mandraburca thinks that the procedure of switching suppliers will be hard to put into practice. It isn't clear who will cover the costs for the supplied gas during the 20 days of switching procedure and how the gas consumption will be measured. Mandraburca warned about dishonest users who might tinker with the gas meters during this period and it isn't clear who will pay for the verification of meters.

ANRE director Sergiu Ciobanu stressed that the regulation creates conditions for competition on the market of natural gas, considering the legal and functional distinction between the distribution and supplying of natural gas.