Moldova needs profitable long-term contracts for energy supplies to attract new investments - Vadim Ceban.
Moldova needs to negotiate long-term contracts on energy supply to get a reliable access to energy at a comfortable and stable price which will help it attract new investors. This opinion was expressed by Chairman of the Board of Moldovagaz JSC Vadim Ceban on his social network page while sharing his opinion on energy costs and energy efficiency. He noted that in the near future, Moldova will inevitably remain an energy importer. If it manages to industrialize its economy, energy consumption will increase. At the same time, the cost of energy affects not only household consumers but also the competitiveness of producers. Therefore, in order to reduce the impact of energy costs on people's well-being and not to jeopardize the competitiveness of our producers in the domestic and foreign markets, we need to have success in negotiations. We need to identify partnerships and negotiate long-term contracts. Vadim Ceban emphasized that businesses have a special need for predictability. The more certain an investor is that he will have reliable access to energy, at a comfortable and stable price the greater will be his investment. According to him, the countries that will win the competition to attract investment in the near future are those that will provide reliable access to energy resources at comfortable prices with long term stability. These countries will be chosen by people as a place to live, build a family and a career. Referring to energy efficiency, the head of Moldovagas said that Moldova has a great potential for increasing the efficiency of energy consumption, and the realization of this potential will determine the improvement of living standards and social care, as well as the competitiveness of the national economy. Energy efficiency projects require investments that authorities cannot afford. According to Vadim Ceban, the model of cooperation between the public and private sectors must be rethought in terms of public sector responsibility in order to prevent abuse of business by the authorities. "If we really want to learn how to build effective and long-term partnerships, we must equalize the private partner with the public partner in rights. We are a people, and we need to learn how to work properly as a team. Businesses with the resources and expertise could invest in public energy efficiency projects - they just need to create a clear framework for cooperation, ensure investment recovery and profitability. This would change the investors' intention to cooperate with Moldova. We must admit that in Moldova, the history of cooperation between the private sector and the public sector is one in which the private partner has always failed, and the public partner has not fulfilled its obligations. But everything can be changed and now it is the right time to start a new history of public-private cooperation - one based on respect and trust", said the head of Moldovagaz. According to him, the tools for financing (or combining them) energy efficiency projects with private capital could be: "secured" energy loans; energy efficiency contracts; ESCO contracts; on-billing; corporate securities "green bonds" or "energy bonds"; financial guarantees; "off-the-shelf" instruments, municipal obligations to finance energy efficiency projects at the local level. // 04.07.2023 - InfoMarket.
