Business forum on opportunities of natural gas market's liberalization to be held in Moldovan capital

Chisinau, 14 May /MOLDPRES/ - The Energy Ministry will organize, for the first time ever, a business forum dedicated to opportunities opened by the liberalization of the natural gas market from Moldova. The event will bring together participants in the market and enterprises from Moldova, in order to give possibility of interaction as regards the legal opportunities on the natural gas market, as well as the anticipation of new market rules, which will enter into force on 1 January 2025.        

The forum will include four panels, due to tackle the policies relevant for the process of European integration; the market reforms and the markets’ integration; liberalization of the natural gas market and market models; a business overview  due to provide visions for the business environment. The participants in the event will present updated information on the natural gas market, including opportunities of networking with the participants of the gas market: providers, consumers, distributors, etc.    

The event will take place on 16 May starting from 9:30 and will bring together over 100 participants, including representatives of public authorities from Moldova and Romania, Secretariat of the Energy Community, system operators and gas traders from Moldova and diverse countries of the region.    

The natural gas market is to be gradually liberalized, in line with the provisions of the Directive 2009/73/CE concerning the common rules for the internal market in natural gas. Thus, starting from 1 January 2025, all big enterprises from Moldova will purchase natural gas only on the free market at negotiable prices, and as of 1 January 2027, the same provisions will apply also to the medium-sized enterprises.  Also, the household consumers and public institutions will have the discretionary right to choose between the free market and the regulated market, with the state ensuring the existence of the providers of the universal service and last resort service, in order to secure the deliveries to household consumers.      

The forum is organized with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development, through the Moldova Energy Security Activity Project (MESA), in partnership with the BRM East Energy, the branch of the Romanian Commodity Exchange and Transgaz, the operator of the gas transport system from Romania.