The procedure for the designation of the natural gas transmission system operator will be amended to allow the National Agency for Energy Regulation to ensure the implementation of the Energy Package III immediately after September 10, 2023. Amendments to a number of legislative acts in this regard were approved today in a Government meeting and will enter into force after the vote in Parliament and publication in the Official Gazette.

The draft defines the procedures by which ANRE could withdraw the license of an operator that does not meet the certification requirements. Thus, the regulator will be able to withdraw the license directly, by its own decision, which cannot be suspended by the courts, similar to the provisions of the legislation covering administrative acts issued by the National Bank of Moldova.

At the same time, the mechanism for the transmission and management of the transmission networks has been proposed, in the context where the owners of the network will not enter into lease contracts with the new designated operator, through the issuance of a decision by ANRE, which will be substituted as a contract between the parties. The provisional designation by ANRE of the new licensee is a separate process from the operation of the natural gas transmission system under the lease contract.

The provisional designation takes place for a period of time, until the new license holder is certified, and the lease contract has a minimum duration of 5 years, in order to allow for the planning of the necessary investments in the system.

One of the basic commitments undertaken by the Republic of Moldova in relation to the European Union in the energy sector is to ensure the separation and independence of the operators of natural gas transmission systems from vertically integrated enterprises engaged in the production, distribution, storage, trading or supply of natural gas, as well as from any enterprise controlling enterprises engaged in these activities.

"The main role of the independent transmission system operator in accordance with the requirements of the Energy Package III is to ensure non-discriminatory access to the natural gas transmission networks of system users, which will increase the competitiveness of the natural gas market in the Republic of Moldova," said Energy Minister Victor Parlicov.

On July 29, 2022 by Law no. 249/2022 a number of new provisions were introduced which set a deadline by which the gas transmission system operator is to meet all unbundling and independence requirements and apply for certification by ANRE, otherwise the certification procedure is to be triggered ex officio or at the request of the Energy Community Secretariat. At the same time, the new provisions of the law stipulate that in case of non-compliance, the operator's license shall be withdrawn and another operator of the natural gas transmission system in the Republic of Moldova shall be appointed in its place.

Out of the two licensed transmission system operators in the Republic of Moldova, LLC "Vestmoldtransgaz" and LLC "Moldovatransgaz", only the first one was certified as transmission system operator under the ownership unbundling model in 2021. "Moldovatransgaz" did not comply with the certification conditions due to the opposition of SAP "Gazprom", the majority shareholder of Moldovagaz. The Energy Community Secretariat has initiated infringement proceedings against Moldova for non-compliance and non-implementation of unbundling, and the draft law passed today by the Government will b