In Moldova, the gas supplier of last resort will be obliged to ensure the storage of gas in a neighboring country in an amount sufficient for 2 winter months of consumption.
This is envisaged by the relevant amendments to the Law on Natural Gas, the Law on Energy, and the Criminal Code, which the Parliament adopted in the second reading. The main purpose of the document is to provide the necessary regulatory framework for the effective management of possible emergency situations in the gas industry and mitigation of their consequences. The necessary legal framework is also being created to ensure the transparency of the wholesale natural gas market, in order to exclude abuse or manipulative actions. This eliminates the ambiguity of interpretation in relation to actions that can be considered as market manipulation, in relation to the obligations of participants in the natural gas market with classified information. The bill also provides for the introduction of two new types of economic crimes into the criminal law: manipulation of the natural gas market and abuse of confidential information about the natural gas market. The National Agency for Energy Regulation will be provided with the necessary means to intervene quickly to prevent and counter market manipulation and abuse. A separate article of the bill is dedicated to trading activities. It is planned that the introduction of the mentioned changes will have a beneficial effect, including on the end consumers of natural gas, both in the medium and long term. It should be noted that EU legislation requires Member States to create reserves of natural gas. As of July 27, the level of filling of reserve gas storage facilities in the EU was 67.8%, and by November it should reach 95%.// 29.07.2022 — InfoMarket
