Moldova to change the procedure for appointing the gas transportation system operator, which will allow ANRE to ensure the implementation of the III Energy Package immediately after September 10, 2023.
This is stipulated in the relevant draft law, which was approved by the Government at Wednesday's meeting on the initiative of the Ministry of Energy. According to Energy Minister Victor Parlicov, the amendments provide grounds for revocation of the license in case of non-compliance of the license holders in the natural gas sector with the legal requirements for unbundling, independence and/or certification of the transmission system operator. The head of the Energy Ministry said that one of the main obligations of Moldova towards the European Union in the energy sector is to ensure the separation and independence of the system operators of natural gas transport by vertically integrated companies involved in production, distribution, storage, trade and supply of natural gas, as well as any companies that control the companies involved in these activities. It is planned that ensuring the independence of the transmission system operator, as required by the Third Energy Package, will lead to non-discriminatory access of the system users to the natural gas transmission networks and will improve the competitiveness of the natural gas market in Moldova. The requirements for unbundling and independence of the transmission system operator must be met through a certification procedure by the national regulatory authority and are subject to approval at EU level by the Energy Community Secretariat. This action is a basic precondition for the creation and operation of a competitive energy market and ensuring non-discriminatory access of all system users to the natural gas transportation infrastructure in Moldova. However, based on the specific situation, Moldova was previously postponed implementation of Article 9 of Directive 2009/73/EC on common rules for the internal natural gas market from March 3, 2012 to January 1, 2020. However, of the 2 natural gas transmission system operators licensed in Moldova, Vestmoldtransgaz and Moldovatransgaz, only the first company was certified as transmission system operator under the ownership unbundling model in 2021. During the last 4 years, the national authorities, in close cooperation with the Energy Community Secretariat, made significant efforts to speed up the implementation of this obligation, including by implementing the action plan for Moldovatransgaz’s unbundling in accordance with legal requirements and directive, but ultimately all these efforts were blocked by Gazprom, as the majority shareholder of Moldovagaz. As a result, in November 2021, the Energy Community Secretariat initiated a preliminary procedure against our country for non-compliance and non-fulfillment of the unbundling by writing a letter opening the case, stating that Moldova failed to comply with several articles of Directive 2009/73/EC, which the Republic of Moldova took over. At the same time, the draft law approved by the Government today aims to address procedural aspects through which the regulatory authority could implement a mechanism to revoke the license of an operator that does not comply with certification requirements. This will allow Moldova to return to the Energy Community Treaty norms, change the procedure of designating the gas transmission system operator and ensure the implementation of the Energy Package III immediately after September 10, 2023. The Energy Minister Victor Parlicov emphasized that, besides the risks that Moldova could be subject to financial sanctions, ensuring the unbundling of the transmission system operator in due time is Moldova's obligation to the EU and within the Memorandum on economic and financial policies signed with the IMF as well as a prerequisite for accessing macro-financial assistance from the EU. The head of the Ministry of Energy noted that the Moldovan authorities cannot wait indefinitely for Gazprom to agree to the procedure of mandatory unbundling, and therefore the current legislation should be amended. If Gazprom does not eventually agree to unbundling Moldovatransgaz as an independent operator, the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) could revoke the transmission license from Moldovatransgaz and allow another independent licensed operator in the country, Vestmoldtransgaz, to take over transmission operations as an independent system operator. "The main role of the independent transmission system operator, as required by the Third Energy Package, is to ensure non-discriminatory access to the natural gas transmission networks of the system users, which will increase the competitiveness of the natural gas market in Moldova", Victor Parlicov emphasized. ANRE noted earlier that ensuring the unbundling and independence of the gas transmission system operators from the vertically integrated enterprises engaged in natural gas production, distribution, storage, trade or supply is one of the main challenges to the creation of a liberalized natural gas market in Moldova. At the level of the European Union, this process of mandatory separation is known as unbundling. Thus, the natural gas transmission system operator Moldovatransgaz, which is part of the integrated structure and vertically controlled by the supplier Moldovagaz, had to take all necessary measures to meet the requirements to ensure its independence. This could be achieved either by alienating the transport networks or by transferring them to a third company unrelated to Moldovagaz structures or by ensuring real independence of Moldovatransgaz by the parent company, including by transferring ownership of the networks and ensuring independent management. // 05.07.2023 – InfoMarket
