The audit on the calculation of the new natural gas tariffs cannot say how justified the costs used to determine the tariffs are, energy expert Sergiu Tofilat said after the public debate centering on the audit results, IPN reports.

“The task of the audit company was to verify the correctness of the calculations. It is important to justify the costs incurred by the operator. But the goal of the audit wasn’t to determine the justifiably of the costs. Thus, the calculation base is not correct and the end result – the proposed tariff – is thus also not correct,” stated Sergiu Tofilat.

According to him, the audit report does not indicate the authors, their experience and the certificates showing their qualification. The auditors only put the costs provided by the operators in the calculation formula, without verifying them. The operators can ask for the tariffs they want, but it is the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NARE) that decides the final tariff and it is important what costs it includes in the tariff and what unjustified costs it excludes.

In the same connection, Sergiu Tofilat said the Agency approves the annual expenditure estimate, but must also monitor how efficiently the operator uses the money. If there are unjustified costs, these should be excluded from the tariff.

The costs associated with the audit were covered by the operator.

The public utility “Moldovagaz” asked increasing the gas tariff by 48%, but the NARE in July approved a rise of 15.4%, which is from 5,666 lei to 6,538 lei per cubic meter of gas. This decision was later suspended.