The Parliament approved a set of amendments to the Law on natural gas
The Parliament approved a set of amendments to Law No 108/2016 on natural gas to increase the energy system's resilience in the Republic of Moldova and develop and modernize the existing infrastructure. The new amendments will also contribute to ensuring energy security, lowering the price for end consumers, and excluding the need to declare/recognize exceptional situations in the natural gas sector.
AmCham Moldova appreciates the authorities' decision to liberalize the gas market and abandon the equity component's establishment. This was not supported from the outset on the grounds that it could lead to price distortion in the gas market and violate the principle of equality between consumers. In addition, those willing to switch supplier of last resort would have been discouraged from doing so because of the additional payment. Moreover, this is incompatible with the principle of market liberalization.
Other news:
- creation and maintenance of natural gas stocks. The storage capacity must correspond to a level of at least 15% of the average annual gas consumption of final customers, determined for the last five years;
- imposing on a supplier or trader an obligation to store a certain quantity of natural gas in underground storage facilities in other countries that are part of the Energy Community or in Member States of the European Union;
- the introduction of an obligation for transmission system operators to ensure permanent bi-directional physical capacity at all cross-border interconnections with neighboring countries to ensure the security of gas supply;
- establishing the right of the Agency to set specific conditions and requirements for the fulfillment of the public service obligation to supply gas;
- to lay down the conditions for suspension and revocation of the public service obligation to supply gas by the National Energy Regulatory Agency, etc.
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