The Moldovan Parliament passed in the second reading amendments to the laws regulating the unbundling and certification of natural gas transmission system operators.
They provide, inter alia, for changing the procedure for appointing the natural gas transmission system operator, which will allow the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) to ensure the implementation of the III Energy Package. The need to elaborate this draft law was due to the legislative vacuum in terms of direct grounds for license revocation in case the owners fail to comply with the license conditions in the natural gas sector, the legal requirements regarding the unbundling, independence and/or certification of the transmission system operator. The Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for Economy, Budget and Finance, Radu Marian, said that after the completion of the unbundling process of the natural gas transmission system, many natural gas suppliers will appear on the market, and consumers will be able to choose, as they choose, for example, an Internet or other service provider. He emphasized that the implementation of the adopted new legislative norms in practice will ensure the strengthening of economic and, consequently, price competition. The legislative initiative belongs to the government. The Energy Ministry said that one of Moldova's main commitments to the European Union in the energy sector is to ensure the unbundling and independence of the natural gas transmission system operators from the vertically integrated companies involved in the production, distribution, storage, trade or supply of natural gas, as well as any companies that control enterprises engaged in these activities. Ensuring the independence of the transmission system operator in accordance with the requirements of III Energy Package will lead to non-discriminatory access of system users to natural gas transmission networks and will increase the competitiveness of the natural gas market in Moldova. The purpose of the respective changes is to ensure that the new operator will have predictability of the regulated activities it is going to engage in during the designated period, as well as the possibility to plan the necessary investments in the transmission system. At the same time, it will not be possible to suspend the decision on license revocation, as well as the decisions issued by ANRE to ensure the continuity of natural gas transportation activities. The exclusion of the possibility to suspend these ANRE decisions is necessary, among other things, to prevent any possible blockages in the operation of the gas transportation system or the termination of gas transportation activities. As reported earlier by Energy Minister Victor Parlicov, the requirements related to unbundling and ensuring the independence of the gas transmission system operator must be met through a certification procedure by the national regulator and are subject to approval at the EU level by the Energy Community Secretariat. This measure is the main precondition for the establishment and functioning 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 has previously received a postponement of the implementation of Article 9 of Directive 2009/73/EC on common rules for the internal market in natural gas from March 3, 2012 to January 1, 2020. Of the two natural gas transmission system operators licensed in Moldova, Vestmoldtransgaz and Moldovatransgaz, only the first company was certified as a transmission system operator under the ownership unbundling model in 2021. Moldovatransgaz did not meet the certification requirements due to the opposition of Gazprom, the majority shareholder of Moldovagaz. Over the last four years, the national authorities, in close cooperation with the Energy Community Secretariat, have made significant efforts to accelerate the fulfillment of this obligation, including by implementing an action plan to unbundle Moldovatransgaz as required by law and directive, but ultimately all these efforts were blocked by Gazprom. As a result, in November 2021, the Energy Community Secretariat initiated a preliminary procedure against Moldova for non-compliance and failure to fulfill the unbundling, i.e. the commitments undertaken. The draft law approved by the Parliament aims to address the procedural aspects through which the regulator could implement a mechanism to revoke the license of an operator that does not meet the certification requirements. Energy Minister Victor Parlicov emphasized that, besides the risks that Moldova might be subjected to financial sanctions, ensuring the separation of the transport system operator within the established deadlines is Moldova's commitment to the EU and within the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies signed with the IMF, as well as a precondition for accessing the macro-financial assistance from the EU. The head of the Energy Ministry said that the Moldovan authorities cannot wait indefinitely for Gazprom to agree to the procedure of mandatory separation, known as unbundling, and therefore the current legislation should be amended. If Gazprom does not eventually agree to the unbundling of Moldovatransgaz as an independent operator, ANRE will be able to revoke the transmission license of Moldovatransgaz and allow the other independent licensed operator in the country, Vestmoldtransgaz, to take over the gas transmission operations as an independent system operator. //20.07.2023 - InfoMarket.
