Gazprom ups Moldova's gas price 17% for Q1
CHISHINAU. Jan 11 (Interfax) - The Republic of Moldova's price for Russian gas in the first quarter increased to $233 per 1,000 cubic meters as of January 1, a 17% increase from $199 in Q4 2009, the joint Moldovan-Russian venture Moldova Gas told Interfax.
The quarterly gas price for Moldova is figured by a formula based on Gazprom's mean-average gas sales price for countries outside the Commonwealth of Independent States for the previous nine months, and factoring in the ratio and index of world oil-product price changes.
The Q1 2009 gas price was $339.25 per 1,000 cubic meters, the Q2 price $225.71 and Q3 price $186.85.
Moldova's Energy Regulatory Agency cut the average gas fee for household use by 10.1% to 3,166 Moldovan leu ($257.4) in September last year.
This year, Moldova (not counting Transdniestria) plans to import roughly 1.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas, which would be about 100 million bcm more than in 2009.
Moldova Gas was set up in 1999, with Gazprom holding 50% +1 share, Moldova 35.33%, and the Transdniestrian administration 13.44%. In 2005, Transdniestria announced its unilateral withdrawal from the joint venture and the transfer of its shares into Gazprom trust management. In December of 2006, Gazprom and the Moldovan government signed a protocol of cooperation effective until 2011 that envisions a gradual raising of gas prices for the republic to a par with European prices.