The purchase price of gas for Moldova in March might be lower than $563 per 1,000 cubic meters set for February, which is $83 less than the January price, but this will not lead to a reduction in tariffs yet - Moldovagaz.
This was announced by Vadim Ceban, Chairman of the Board of the Company, noting that, at the same time, even with such a decrease in the price of imported gas, one cannot yet count on a reduction in the tariff for end consumers, since it is first necessary to cover the negative financial deviations accumulated by the enterprise. “Gas will cost less, but the tariff for consumers will not decrease. We understand the concern of consumers who do not understand why the gas purchase price is reduced, but this is not reflected in the tariff. Moldovagaz is in no way interested in high tariffs in our country. We would only be glad if every month our consumers felt the price reduction, and every month a new tariff would be approved. If the purchase price increased, then the tariff for everyone would also increase. If the purchase price decreased, then the tariff for everyone should also decrease. It would be possible to adjust tariffs at the beginning of each month, by analogy, say, with oil products. This could be arranged. But today in the law and in the ANRE methodology there is such a thing as the average annual price, the average annual tariff. ANRE approves the annual average tariff. Therefore, based on our prognosis, we indicated a forecast of $620 per 1,000 cubic meters for the whole of 2022, because January accounts for one fifth of the total gas consumption per year on the right bank of the Dniester. That is, the share of January is very high, on average, in the purchase price for the entire period, for the entire year. Therefore, this price raises the tariff. At the same time, no one has canceled the so-called financial deviations, which were formed due to the non-actualization of the tariff and the difference between the real gas purchase price and the gas price included in the tariff, according to which the consumers made their payments for gas,” said the head of Moldovagaz. “We need to accumulate funds in order to fulfill our financial obligations to Gazprom in a timely manner. Before the 20th day of each month, we must make an advance payment for the fuel consumed that month, and then pay for the consumed gas. In addition, we need to eliminate the accumulated negative financial deviations,” said Vadim Ceban. // 08.02.2022 - InfoMarket
