U.S. to allocate almost $50 mln to Moldova in reimbursement of electricity purchasing costs

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U.S. to allocate almost $50 mln to Moldova in reimbursement of electricity purchasing costs

CHISINAU. Nov 2 (Interfax) - The United States will provide Moldova with almost $50 million to reimburse the costs of electric power purchases and strengthen energy security, the Chisinau office of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said.

"The United States supports Moldova in this difficult situation in the energy market. As part of this effort, USAID is working with the Government of Moldova to pass an amendment to the existing Development Goals Agreement (DOAG) that would allow $30 million from the US budget to be used to offset the cost of purchasing electricity," USAID said in a release.

At the same time, the amendment will unlock $19.5 million in aid "to strengthen the country's energy security and reduce dependence on Russia," it said.

"We look forward to signing the amendment in order to continue cooperation with Moldova to meet its energy needs," USAID said.

Gazprom confirmed that it will supply 171 million cubic meters of gas to Moldova in November, whereas the country (the Transdniestria region inclusive) needs 334 mcm of gas. Faced with gas supply shortages emerging in November, the Moldovan state-run company Energocom based on the right bank of the Dniester and Transdniestria-based Moldavskaya GRES failed to agree terms on which the station would supply gas to the right-bank part of Moldova. Earlier in October, Moldavskaya GRES supplied power energy at the best price of 62.5 euro per 1 megawatt-hour.

For Wednesday November 2, Moldova forecast a shortage in electric power supply at a level of 1,700 MWH, a shortfall of approximately 20%, Moldova's state-run company Moldelectrica said.

Energocom purchased volumes needed to meet the shortfall on the Romanian market at 90 euro per 1 MWH. In view of this fact, Moldova's National Agency for Energy Regulation (Moldovan: ANRE) on Wednesday will raise electricity tariffs for households by more than half.

According to the draft decision published on the NAER website, the tariff price will grow from 3.15 to 4.88 lei for 1 MWH. And it has been less than one month since the last tariff rise. On October 12, ANRE moved to rise regulated power energy prices from 2.64 to 3.15 lei per megawatt-hour.