Moldovan energy regulator approves new calculation method for lower gas tariffs
16:23 | 13.01.2016 Category: Economic
Chisinau, 13 January /MOLDPRES/-The administration board of the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) today approved the modification of the methodology for the calculation and enforcement of natural gas tariffs, as a result of the parliament’s abrogation of an amendment to the legislation on 20 November 2015. The amendment entered into force in August 2014 and caused a substantial increase in the price for the gas transportation and respectively, in the natural gas tariff for end consumers.
The decision, taken in 2014, to include international gas transportation services in transit regime into the transportation costs, led to a 16-fold increase in the regulated transportation tariff.
According to some experts, consumers will now pay less for natural gas as the tariff for gas transit services across the Moldovan territory will no more be included in the invoice. Therefore, citizens could enjoy a five-per-cent discount in this sense.
After today’s meeting, ANRE representatives said it was too early to assess the effect of the natural gas tariff’s modification. ANRE will estimate and approve the new gas tariff for end consumers, once the decision is published in Moldova’s Official Journal.
The ANRE administration board decided to increase natural gas tariffs for end consumers by 9.8 per cent on 13 November, 5.6 percentage points below the level approved on 18 July 2015.
The new tariff for household consumers with a monthly consumption of up to 30 cubic meters reaches 6,556 lei. Consumers will have to pay 6,830 lei if their consumption exceeds 30 cubic meters. An eight-per-cent value-added tax will be included for gas delivery-services, therefore, 525 and 546 lei, respectively, will be added to the final prices.
Moldova paid Gazprom 204 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas in the fourth quarter of 2015, six dollars less against the previous quarter.
(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor L. Alcaza)
