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The National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE/Agency) has carefully reviewed the information published in the press regarding the accusations made by SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" and provides the following clarifications:
License and Public Service Obligation: SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" holds a license for conducting natural gas distribution activities and a license for conducting natural gas supply activities, both obtained in 2005. By ANRE’s Decision No. 287/2016 and No. 487/2019, the license holder was imposed the public service obligation to supply natural gas according to the legislation in force.
Compliance with Regulated Prices: According to the current regulatory framework, ANRE examines and approves the regulated supply prices based on the annual regulated income calculated for the public service obligation supplier. In this regard, in the first quarter of 2023, ANRE has proposed to SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" to submit the request for the approval of regulated natural gas supply prices.
Refusal to Comply with Obligations: Due to the fact that SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" has purchased natural gas mainly from international markets, at lower prices than from the supplier S.A. "Moldovagaz,", the company has accumulated a tariff surplus and did not intend to adjust the regulated supply prices accordingly, which was considered as an unfair behavior towards its 21,000 consumers.
SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" has invoked various arguments to delay the process of submitting the request for the approval of regulated prices to ANRE.
After several requests from ANRE, on July 7 2023, SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" sent a letter to ANRE submitting the request for the approval of regulated prices for the supply and distribution of natural gas. In the attached documents SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" indicated that it had accumulated a tariff surplus of 36.38 million MDL from January to May of 2023, which was included in the calculations by the company in order to be refunded to consumers by the end of the regulatory period.
SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" had disagreements with ANRE regarding the regulated prices approved by the regulator in September 2023 and requested not to be obliged to supply natural gas at regulated prices. This indicates that SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" intended to withdraw from the regulated market without returning the surplus collected from the supply of natural gas at regulated prices approved for S.A. "Moldovagaz," which did not reflect the actual acquisition costs of SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading."
License Suspension: Although it had the obligation to supply natural gas at regulated prices according to ANRE’s Decision No. 487/2019, SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" notified ANRE and its consumers that it would no longer supply natural gas to final consumers entitled to regulated prices. ANRE has issued two prescriptions to SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" to resolve these violations and resume the supply of natural gas according to the public service obligation, but SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" did not comply with these requirements. So on October 3 2023, SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" natural gas supply license was suspended according to legal provisions.
Due to the fact that SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" refused to supply natural gas to final consumers at the regulated prices approved by ANRE, the company was sanctioned according to legal provisions. When deciding/determining the amount of sanction, ANRE considered the tariff surplus of 38.5 million MDL accumulated from the supply of natural gas, calculated by ANRE for January - October 2023, from its consumers.
ANRE would like to point out that despite the company's press statements, the natural gas supply license of SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" is currently valid, allowing it to conduct supply transactions at negotiated prices without any restrictions.
All actions taken by ANRE regarding SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" result from the company’s failure to comply with the legal requirements, avoidance of responsibilities to provide public services, consumer detriment, and obtaining surplus revenues. These measures are specific to SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading" and cannot be extended to the entire natural gas market or considered relevant in the context of market opening and liberalization, as the company claims in its press releases.
Unconstructive Actions and Public Opinion Manipulation: ANRE asserts an unconstructive behavior and manipulation of public opinion by SRL "Rotalin Gaz Trading," using unfounded arguments and defamatory statements against authorities in an attempt to retain excess revenues collected from consumers.
ANRE reaffirms its commitment to liberalize the natural gas market to attract as many local and regional suppliers as possible, in order to create a healthy competitive environment that would allow the consumers to benefit from the best services and prices for natural gas.
ANRE will continue to apply the legislation in force and protect the interests of consumers and the energy market in the Republic of Moldova.