On February 23, new gas tariffs took effect: the price for household consumers, including VAT, was reduced from 18.07 to 14.47 lei per cubic meter (-19.9%).
Monitorul Oficial (the Official Journal of Moldova) published a decision of the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) on the approval of regulated prices for natural gas supplied by Moldovagaz to end consumers. According to the decision, the regulated prices for natural gas at the exit points of low-pressure gas distribution networks (for household consumers) have been reduced by 19.9% - from 16,730 to 13,398 lei per 1,000 cubic meters (excluding VAT). Accordingly, taking into account VAT (8%), the price per cubic meter of gas for household consumers has been reduced to 14.47 lei as of February 23. At the same time, the tariff for natural gas at the exit points of medium pressure gas distribution networks was reduced by 29.9% - from 14,381 to 10,076 lei per 1,000 cubic meters (excluding VAT), and for high pressure - by 33.2% - from 13,666 to 9,129 lei per 1,000 cubic meters (excluding VAT). The regulated prices at the entry points to the natural gas transmission networks were reduced by 33% - from 13,348 to 8,930 lei, and at the exit points from the transmission networks - by 33.2% - from 13,514 to 9,019 lei per 1,000 cubic meters (without VAT). It should be recalled that the last time the gas tariffs for consumers of all categories were adjusted in June 2023, including for household consumers the tariff decreased by 38.2% - from 29.3 to 18.06 lei, including VAT, while for other categories of consumers the maximum reduction reached 45.7%. In October 2022, tariffs were raised by 27-31%, depending on the category of consumers, while before that, in August last year, they were raised by 23-27%. The current decrease in tariffs is due to a decrease in the average annual natural gas purchase price from $750 to $518 per 1,000 cubic meters; the dynamics of the average annual exchange rate of the national currency against the U.S. dollar, projected for 2024, calculated on the basis of the average annual exchange rate for the last 12 months, at the level of 18.04 lei per USD compared to the average annual exchange rate of 18.99 lei per USD included in the current tariff; increase in the cost of natural gas distribution service by 32%, in transportation - by 35% and in the supplier's expenses directly related to the supply service, which increased 3 times as a result of inclusion of financial contributions related to securities by 350 million lei. Taking into account the objective factors, the average price of natural gas supply was calculated by ANRE at 11,136 lei per 1,000 cubic meters, which is 4123 lei (27%) lower than the average price in force and 1026 lei (8.4%) lower than the one requested by Moldovagaz. Also on February 23, Monitorul Oficial published new tariffs of 12 gas companies in the country for gas distribution services. // 23.02.2024 - InfoMarket.
