Commission for Emergency Situations intervenes with new measures to ensure Moldova's energy security

Chisinau, 23 December /MOLDPRES/ - The Moldovagaz stock company in December will provide 166.5 million cubic metres of natural gas to the consumers from the left bank of Dniester and the Moldavskaia GRES power plant, in order to produce electric energy. A decision to this effect has been approved at a meeting of the Commission for Emergency Situations (CSE), chaired by Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita. The measure is needed to supply all consumers of Moldova with energy resources, given that the Gazprom giant cut the volume of natural gas delivered to Moldova by 56.5 per cent.      

According to the government’s communication and protocol department, other measures necessary for ensuring the energy security regards the transfer, in advance, to the Termoelectrica stock company, of the needed financial means for the payment of compensations for thermal energy for the period December 2022 – February 2023. According to forecasts made by the Termoelectrica stock company, about 200 million lei will be necessary to this end. The money is to be transferred by the Labour and Social Protection Ministry (MMPS) from the fund for reducing the energy vulnerability.     

The CSE members intervened with corrections to the way the invoices will be compensated for the dwellings disconnected from the centralized heating system. Thus, starting from December 2022, the owners of such dwellings will receive compensations equivalent to the quite high vulnerability degree.      

Also, the term of purchasing electric energy by the Energocom stock company, based on direct negotiations, was extended for the period January-March 2023.  

Under the CSE Instruction, the joint venture Rompetrol Moldova was exempted from the payment of the sanctions provided for in the contract with the Termoelectrica stock company, if the crude oil is delivered with delay, proceeding from the logistic obstacles.    

To supply the stocks of wood mass, the Moldsilva Forestry Agency will conclude direct contracts on sale and purchase of fire wood with the Romsilva National Forest Administration from Romania. Subsequently, the wood mass will be distributed to the territorial forest enterprises, depending on the number of requests on behalf of the residents. The sale of fire wood to local and foreign non-governmental organizations is allowed, in order to back the socially vulnerable categories, families or placement centres which shelter refugees. To ensure the sale of wood mass at a lower price, the import of wood will be exempted from the payment for phyto-sanitary services and the rights of import.      

The text of the Instruction also sees measures for the good work of the placement centres for refugees on the cold period of the year. Thus, their disconnection from the public utilities was banned. At the same time, the invoices will be able to be paid by non-commercial and international organizations, including by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) through the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED), within the limit of the assistance of 1,300,000 dollars for November and December 2022, as well as by the International Organization for Migration, within the limit of the assistance worth 450,000 dollars for January-March.      

The CSE members also intervened with measures of facilitating the access of citizens refugees from Ukraine to Moldova, both by road and by air. At the same time, CSE abrogated some of the earlier derogations, the emergency of which was exceeded. Thus, starting from next January, Moldova will return to the normal conditions of carrying out the transport from and to Ukraine and the tax for the use of roads is to be paid by all owners of vehicles non-registered in Moldova.     

Photo: Government