Moldovan energy regulator to soon give final touches to amendments to methodology of establishing prices for fuels

Chisinau, 10 October /MOLDPRES/ - The National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) will soon give final touches and present the amendments made to the methodology of the formation an applying the prices for oil products, needed following the introduction of amendments to legislation, which see that the ceiling prices for fuels will be established every three months.

At a meeting of the parliament’s commission for economy, budget and finances, ANRE General Director Tudor Copaci said the institution had already received all proposals to this effect made by licence holders from the system. “Presently, we are waiting for the expertise of the Justice Ministry and National Anticorruption Centre (CNA) and in the nearest future, we will approve these amendments to the methodology of establishing the ceiling prices for oil products,” Copaci noted.  

The law on the amendment of the law on oil products market, which sees that the ceiling selling retail prices for oil products will be set by ANRE every three months, was published in the Official Journal (Monitorul Oficial) in early last August. According to this law, after the publication, ANRE, in a three-month term, was to bring the methodology of formation and applying prices for oil products in line with the new legal provisions. On this period, the ceiling selling retail prices for the main oil products remained unchanged, at 19.1 lei/litre for petrol and 16.89 lei/litre for diesel.     

Asked by MPs about the evolution of prices for electric energy, thermal energy and natural gas, Copaci said that the tariffs for electricity last year had increased by five per cent as a result of the depreciation of the national currency. At the same time, in 2018, ANRE ruled to decrease the price for electric energy by an average of ten per cent.   

As for the tariffs for thermal energy, they grew by five per cent in 2017 and the price of gas dropped by 20 per cent in last March.  

According to Tudor Copaci, the residents of the central Telenesti district pay most of all for the services of water and sewerage and the consumers from Chisinau – less of all. The ANRE director noted that this was prompted by the volume of water supplied and losses from the system. Copaci added that a solution to decrease the tariffs would be the creation of strong operators regionally.  

(Reporter N. Sandu, editor L. Alcaza)