Obligation of public service for Moldova's Energocom company extended till March 2025

Chisinau, 27 November /MOLDPRES/ - The obligation of public service for the Energocom stock company has been extended till 31 March 2025. The government today approved a decision to this effect, in order to ensure the security of the supply with electric energy of the consumers from Moldova. Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that the initiative was part of the measures undertaken by the cabinet to make sure that it protects the citizens of Moldova.      

The prolongation of the public service obligation allows carrying out daily procurements needed for the consumption of electric energy, including at preferential prices from Romania. Also, this instrument gives the government possibility to intervene promptly for urgent procurements of electric energy, in order to prevent emergency situations which might affect the supply.    

The Energy Ministry noted that the decision had been adopted in the context of the energy vulnerability faced by Moldova. The Kuchurgan power station (MGRES), which provides about 70 per cent of the needs of energy for the right bank of Dniester, fully depends on the natural gas delivered by Gazprom across Ukraine. At the same time, according to the Energy Ministry, the uncertainties are amplified by the fact that the present contracts on transport of natural gas through Ukraine expires on 1 January 2025, which triggers risks dealing with the continuity of the deliveries in the long run.     

„This a technical amendment, on the one hand, and an important one, on the other hand, taking into account that the Law on electric energy implies the purchasing in competitive regime of electric energy on market. So far, we have had a contract with MGRES till the end of this year and Energocom had a contractual coverage with MGRES through which it was able to bid at these competitive procedures of acquisitions. Today, given the uncertainty of the deliveries of gas to the left bank of Dniester after 1 January, taking into account that Energocom will not be able to participate in this tender, we propose to extend this period and not holding of tenders, but to manage, i.e. to preserve the present regime till 31 March 2025. Afterwards, I think that it will be clearer,’’ Energy Minister Victor Parlicov said at the cabinet meeting.      

The stock company Energocom has a significant expertise in the energy sector, proved in the management of the earlier crises, such as the one from November 2022, when the exports of energy from Ukraine were suspended and MGRES ceased the deliveries to the right bank. Having a branch in Romania and trading licences for electric energy and natural gas, the company can ensure the purchasing of the needed volumes of energy from alternative sources, in the situation when MGRES cannot produce the energy needed to cover the consumption on the right bank of Dniester.  

In October 2023, the Energocom stock company prolonged the contract on acquisition of electric energy with the Kuchurgan Moldovan power station from the Transnistrian region till the end of the 2024 year, the cost of the energy being of 66 dollars/MWh.