ANRE: Gas prices to grow by 1% for the population and 2% for the industry as of January 1st 2014

Gas prices will go up for the population by 1% as of January 1^st 2014, and for the industry – by 2%, this being a new step in the process of gas market liberalization, ANRE President Niculae Havrilet stated on Tuesday for Agerpres. “The price hike is basically half the estimate in the initial liberalization calendar, which provided for January 1^st 2014 an increase of 2% for the population and 4% for the industrial consumers”, Havrilet said. The liberalization calendar was set by the Government and the IMF in 2012 and provides for the full market liberalization for household consumers by December 31^st 2018. For the industry, the calendar provides for full liberalization by December 31^st 2014, but, according to the Electricity and Natural Gas Law, there is a possibility to extend the term by one year, if in 2014 it is found that the difference between the domestic gas price and the import gas price is too high. Domestic gas prices are currently around USD 200/TCM, while import gas prices are approximately USD 400/TCM. Havrilet explained that a lower increase than planned was possible because the share of imported gas in the consumption basket is lower than in other years, i.e. around 20%, compared to 35-40% in the previous years during this period, which will lead to a final lower price than that estimated before.