On Tuesday (12 September) Moldovan national regulatory authority ANRE approved the recently signed Lease Agreement between Moldovan state-owned Moldovatransgaz and Vestmoldtransgaz, a Moldovan subsidiary of Romanian gas transmission company Transgaz.
Earlier this month, Vestmoldtransgaz signed a Lease Agreement to take over natural gas operation, exploitation and transmission from Moldovatransgaz.
The 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 next week (19 September).
The final certification process according to the ISO model is expected to conclude in the coming months, the Energy Community Secretariat (ECS) said.
Unlike Vestmoldtransgaz, Moldovatransgaz was never unbundled nor certified, which is subject to infringement action by the ECS for breaching the organisation’s “Third Energy Package,” which sets out regulations on transmission system operator’s compliance with the unbundling provisions.
“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 ECS said in a press release.
Based on the lease agreement concluded for five years, Vestmoldtransgaz will operate the transmission networks owned by Moldovatransgaz and Moldovagaz.
