The National Agency for Energy Regulation may suspend the license of Rotalin Gaz Trading for gas supply services and apply financial sanctions against it.
This was reported by the National Agency for Energy Regulation, calling the behavior of Rotalin Gaz Trading unconstructive and noting that it is manipulating public opinion. This is how the energy regulator responded to a message from the Rotalin Gaz Trading company, from which it follows that it cannot supply gas at the new prices approved for it by NAER and does not exclude “a forced exit from the gas supply market of Moldova due to controversial NAER norms.” The National Agency for Energy Regulation recalled that on July 10, 2023, it received an official request from the license holder to review and approve regulated prices for the supply of natural gas, as well as adjustment of tariffs for natural gas distribution services. Both the license holder’s requests and the results of their consideration were published on the NAER's website for public consultation. Later, on September 5, NAER approved regulated prices for the supply of natural gas and tariffs for distribution services of Rotalin Gaz Trading for 2023. The energy regulator notes that at the stage of public consultations, before the approval of tariff methodologies and before the approval of changes to the relevant methodologies, Rotalin Gaz Trading did not notify NAER about the incompatibility of methodologies with the company’s activities, did not challenge the decisions made and did not note their inadequacy. Thus, the structure of calculating regulated tariffs for the distribution of natural gas for 2023 included tariff deviations (tariff deficit) for 2022, which largely covers the impact of negative deviations formed in the first quarter of 2023. They, in turn, will be compensated by inclusion in distribution tariffs for 2024. Regarding the amount of regulated supply prices determined by NAER and proposed for approval, the energy regulator drew attention to the fact that they were determined taking into account the corrective component of regulated income generated from the beginning of the current management year (tariff surplus in the amount 43.6 million lei). The Agency emphasized that it determines the regulated supply prices on the basis of the annual regulated income calculated for the supplier with the obligation to provide public services, so that at the level of the regulation period all the costs of the operator, including the costs of purchasing natural gas, are covered, ensuring a reasonable level of profitability required for regulated activities. The energy regulator drew attention to the fact that although Rotalin Gaz Trading states in its press release that “NAER is unreasonably talking about the company’s accumulation of “excess profits” in the first half of 2023,” in the calculations attached to the request for approval of regulated supply prices natural gas for 2023. Rotalin Gaz Trading indicates the value of the adjusting component of regulated income generated since the beginning of the current management year (tariff surplus) in the amount of 36.38 million lei. “This fact clearly indicates that Rotalin Gaz Trading LLC recognized the accumulation of excess income in January-May 2023 and included them for return to consumers before the end of the regulation period,” noted NAER. Regarding Rotalin Gaz Trading's statement about the accumulation of financial losses in 2019-2023, the National Agency for Energy Regulation emphasized that, in accordance with the note given in the annex to the NAER resolutions on the approval of regulated prices for the supply of natural gas by Moldovagaz (8 decisions adopted in 2019-2023), suppliers, on who have been assigned obligations to provide a public service, supply natural gas at prices approved by the agency for Moldovagaz, but before the approval of regulated prices for the relevant enterprise. Rotalin Gaz Trading never challenged these decisions and did not submit requests for approval of prices for the supply of natural gas until July 10, 2023. At the same time, regarding the “47 million lei of accumulated losses in 2022” or other “historical negative deviations,” according to a statement in a Rotalin Gaz Trading press release, NAER noted that these figures were not previously reported and were not the subject of a calculation submitted by the operator for approval to the energy regulator. Moreover, in case of detection of a possible tariff deficit/loss in previous periods, the enterprise, in order to cover its costs, had to apply for approval of regulated prices for the supply of natural gas, which was not done. NAER stated that all disagreements presented by Rotalin Gaz Trading regarding regulated prices approved by NAER, as well as the requirement to remove the obligation to provide a public service, confirm the intention of the license holder to leave the regulated market without reimbursing consumers for excess funds received during the current management year as a result of the supply of natural gas at prices approved for Moldovagaz, which do not correlate with the real costs of Rotalin Gaz Trading for the purchase of natural gas. NAER also notes that the obligation to provide a public service for the supply of natural gas does not limit the right of the license holder to choose sources of supply. As a result, NAER noted unconstructive behavior and manipulation of public opinion on the part of the license holder Rotalin Gaz Trading through the use of unfounded arguments and slanderous statements addressed to the authorities in order to appropriate excessively accumulated income in the period before the approval of regulated supply prices, thereby violating the regulatory framework and causing harm to its consumers, depriving them of the right to enjoy fair prices for the supply of natural gas, established in accordance with the actual costs of the enterprise for the purchase of natural gas. Based on the above and based on the obligations of the supplier, NAER on September 26 ordered Rotalin Gaz Trading and after October 1, 2023 to continue to provide services for the supply of natural gas in accordance with regulated prices approved by the NAER resolution of September 5, 2023 and to report this fact through a press release on the company's official website. In case of failure to comply with the order within the prescribed period, NAER will initiate a procedure for suspending the license of Rotalin Gaz Trading for natural gas supply activities and apply financial sanctions against it, provided for in Art. 113 p. (2) letter a) Natural Gas Law. It was previously reported that, according to NAER's decision, the gas tariff for household consumers served by Rotalin Gaz Trading is 10.84 lei per 1 cubic meter without VAT (11.71 lei per 1 cubic meter including VAT). Rotalin Gaz Trading company owns gas distribution networks in 5 central regions of the country (Hincesti, Straseni, Ialoveni, Causeni, Stefan Voda) and serves more than 20 thousand consumers. Previously, Rotalin Gaz Trading supplied gas to consumers at tariffs approved for Moldovagaz, and on July 24 this year for the first time, the company applied to NAER for approval of its fixed gas tariffs. Rotalin Gaz Trading is the second largest (after Moldovagaz) gas supplier to the Moldavian market with a share of 3-4%.//27.09.2023 — InfoMarket.
