Secretariat welcomes landmark progress in the unbundling of Moldova’s gas TSO

Moldova's gas transmission unbundling has made significant progress over the last weeks. Yesterday, the Moldovan national regulatory authority, ANRE, approved a Lease Agreement between Moldovatransgaz, the country’s largest TSO for and Vestmoldtransgaz. Unlike Vestmoldtransgaz, Moldovatransgaz was never unbundled nor certified. This is subject to infringement action by the Secretariat for breaching the Third Energy Package. Based on the lease agreement concluded for five years, Vestmoldtransgaz will operate the transmission networks owned by Moldovatransgaz and Moldovagaz. Yesterday’s approval follows ANRE's earlier decision to provisionally designate and conditionally certify Vestmoldtransgaz as an Independent System Operator (ISO) responsible for national gas transmission operation with effect from 19 September 2023. The final certification process according to the ISO model is expected to conclude in the coming months.

The Energy Community Secretariat commends the inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders in this process, namely the gas TSOs Vestmoldtransgaz and Moldovatransgaz, along with their respective owners, Transgaz Romania and Moldovagaz. The active participation of relevant authorities such as ANRE and the Ministry of Energy has been instrumental in achieving this milestone. The Secretariat has been actively supporting the companies and authorities in the process.