In the current situation, there should be some elements of state support for sectors of the economy that will be negatively affected by the rise in gas tariffs - Vadim Ceban stated.
This opinion was expressed by the Chairman of the Board of Moldovagaz Vadim Ceban at a press conference. While answering the question of the InfoMarket agency on forecasts of a possible reduction in gas consumption by industrial enterprises due to a sharp increase in gas tariffs, he noted that the Moldovan industry, excluding fuel and energy companies, consumes up to 200 million cubic meters of gas per year, or about 20% of the total consumption on the right bank of the Dniester. During the winter period, mainly glass factories, some of the enterprises for the production of building materials work. “As far as the industry is concerned, then we are constantly in contact with the industry enterprises, I personally communicate with all large industrial consumers, especially now in the season when agricultural products are being processed. This applies to sugar factories, enterprises of the canning industry, elevators, where the process of drying agricultural products, mainly corn, is currently underway. There is a lot of consumption during these months. For example, in sugar factories, the refining process can last until mid-January. In November, there is also a serious selection of gas for the canning industry. These are large producers who process mainly apples,” said the head of Moldovagaz. In his opinion, this season, due to the large harvest, it is possible that the increase in gas tariffs will not have such a strong impact on industrial enterprises, which will calculate their costs per ton. “We will see what happens next year. In the current situation, there should be some elements of state support for the sectors of the economy, which will be negatively affected by the rise in gas tariffs,” said Vadim Ceban. He noted that, as experience shows, in a situation of a sharp increase in gas tariffs, industrial consumers use the substitution principle and switch mainly to fuel oil, diesel fuel, and some even use coal. For example, there are coal-dust installations for the production of. In 2009, when the purchase price of gas was $470 per 1,000 cubic meters, this substitution was felt. Then the volume of consumption in industry decreased by about 20%. But in general, we have made calculations; there is a certain level of tolerance in terms of prices that industrial enterprises can withstand. Moreover, their tariff will be lower than 10.26 lei, because they are connected mainly to high and medium pressure networks, and for them the tariff growth will be less due to high consumption and the absence of a component of the distribution tariff, ” emphasized Vadim Ceban. As previously reported, the tariff for natural gas at the points of exit from the medium pressure gas distribution networks was increased from 4018 to 8649 lei, and for high pressure - from 3910 to 8331 lei per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. // 11.11.2021 – InfoMarket
