Moldovagaz asks Gazprom for payment deferral in Aug, expects gas price to grow in Sept
CHISINAU. Aug 4 (Interfax) - Moldova's purchase price for gas in September could be close to $1,700 per thousand cubic meters, Alexandr Sevciuc, a member of Moldovagaz's management board, said on Thursday during a meeting of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE).
Sevciuc did not agree with ANRE's decision to raise the consumer rate 24% to 23 lei ($1.25) from 18.62 lei (around $1) per cubic meter of gas. Moldovagaz requested that the rate be raised to 29 lei ($1.6) per cubic meter of gas, he said.
"ANRE's decision factors in a purchase price of $899.8 per thousand cubic meters, while the real price for August is $1,458 per thousand cubic meters. And it will grow in September. According to Moldovagaz's forecasts, the price of gas for Moldova could amount to $1,692 per thousand cubic meters in September," Sevciuc said.
The agency's decision is also based on an exchange rate of 18.58 lei/$1, the average between January 1 and August 1, when the current exchange rate is 19.34 lei/$1, he said.
"All of this will lead to further financial deviations for Moldovagaz, which total 953.9 million lei for January-July 2022, including 215.6 million lei due to exchange rate differences alone. Taking into account the adopted rate, deviations will total 364.5 million lei [$19 million] in August and more than 630 million lei [$33 million] in September," Sevciuc said, adding that prices will double in August-September compared to January-July.
Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban said that the company is having difficulties fulfilling its financial obligations.
"The rate approved by ANRE doesn't cover the purchase price or the transport, supply, and distribution expenses for natural gas. As a consequence, this will lead to rate deviations further accumulating, which at the end of the year could exceed 3.9 billion lei [around $200 million], which will negatively affect the reliability and performance of the enterprise," Ceban said on Telegram on Thursday.
Moldovagaz will comply with the regulator's decree on natural gas prices, but the figures factored into it cast doubt on the fulfillment of contractual obligations to Gazprom , he said.
"In this situation, the company has requested that the foreign supplier postpone payment for August, and a letter has been sent to the National Commission for Emergencies on postponing payment of VAT on natural gas for April-August inclusively. Another proposal from JSC Moldovagaz is introducing advance payments on the part of enterprises in the fuel and energy sector and/or transferring their debt of 660 million lei [around $35 million] for natural gas consumption in August," Ceban said.