Study shows Moldova could have benefited from import electricity prices up to 40 per cent lower

Chisinau, 3 June /MOLDPRES/-A study of the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) shows that Moldova could have benefited from import energy prices of up to 40 per cent smaller over the past years.

The delay in the liberalization of the market blocks the decrease in electricity tariffs. Though Moldova’s electricity market should have offered its consumers the right to choose their supplier starting with 1 January 2015, and the law adopted on 27 May 2016 provides for the same principle, Moldovan consumers continue to further depend on two suppliers, Gas Natural Fenosa and Energy Supplier Nord. Both of them dominate the retail supply of electrical energy, expert Ion Efros says.

For their part, these companies import energy only from Ukraine and the Transnistrian breakaway region, as Moldova’s connection to the EU energy market is being postponed. Moreover, these companies have signed electricity supply contracts with Transnistrian suppliers, which totally contravene the logic of the market liberalization procedure.

The study states that Moldova’s access infrastructure to the EU electricity market is a problem that should be urgently solved.

The price analysis carried out by IPP clearly shows that if electricity imports in large volumes from Bulgaria and Romania, to Moldova, were possible between 2010 and 2015, Bulgarian and Romanian market offers would have been better and their prices lower, compared to offers of Transnistrian and Ukrainian suppliers (which were similar). Thus, Bulgaria’s price would have been 13.75% and 9.54% lower between 2014 and 2015, than the offer of the Transnistrian in the same period. Romania’s prices would have been lower by 10.41% in 2013, 27.8% in 2014 and 40.6% lower in 2015 than the prices of the electricity sold by DTEK and Kuchurhan station.

Suppliers with regulated tariffs active in Moldova, are currently buying electrical energy that is 28 per cent cheaper against 2015. According to contracts signed between Energocom and suppliers, the electricity will be delivered at a price of 48.995 dollars per megawatt/hour between 1 April 2016-31 March 2017, against 67.95 dollars before 1 March 2016.

(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor A. Raileanu)