The Parliament of Moldova adopted in the first reading amendments to the Law on the Oil Products Market, providing for the liberalization of prices for all types of fuel, except for standard ones: A-95 gasoline and diesel fuel, the maximum retail price of which will be set by NAER.
As stated by MPs from the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), the draft law they have developed is aimed at eliminating existing gaps in the legislation that give rise to risky situations. At the same time, the project retains the basic concept of the policy of setting prices for petroleum products by limiting them, but only in the part that relates to the retail sale of basic petroleum products. The authors of the bill suggested that the law clearly and unequivocally indicate that the maximum retail prices for basic petroleum products are set by the National Agency for Energy Regulation based on the Methodology for calculating and applying prices for petroleum products. Thus, the PAS deputies propose that the maximum retail prices for basic petroleum products of the standard type (gasoline 95 and diesel fuel) should be calculated and published daily on its website by NAER. According to the authors, as a result, the wholesale fuel market, as well as retail prices for liquefied gas and all other types of oil products, except for basic ones, will become free. Herewith, retail sale of other types of basic petroleum products, except for those for which the maximum prices are set, will be allowed only on condition that standard types of products are sold at the same station. In these conditions, the state will provide the consumer with the necessary oil products at regulated, reasonable, transparent, non-discriminatory and easily comparable prices, observing the established quality parameters, and on the other hand, will provide them with the opportunity to freely choose alternative products. Also, in order to soften the conditions for obtaining a license, it is proposed to reduce the mandatory storage capacity that the importer must meet by 5 times: from 5 thousand to 1 thousand cubic meters. Meanwhile, another legislative initiative will be initiated to ensure the energy security of the state in terms of providing oil products in crisis situations. Another provision of the amendments proposed by the PAS deputies to the Law on the Oil Products Market concerns the elimination of the need to own a capital of at least 8 million lei, since, according to the authors of the document, this prevents many new economic agents from entering the market. The bill establishes that NAER can adjust the commercial margin in case of the occurrence of factors that could not have been foreseen at the time of the previous approval, and that the regulator can intervene in the structure of the margin that does not exceed 10% of the average actually registered by the operators.// 13.08.2021 — InfoMarket
