The natural gas sector is divided into three main activities: supply, transport, and distribution, and in countries with gas deposits, production.

The supply of natural gas involves its procurement, payment for transportation services to a specialized company that owns the main gas pipelines, capacity reservation services, distribution services through low-pressure networks, and billing to end consumers, along with customer support services.  

Previously, these three activities were concentrated in Moldovagaz, which had a monopoly on the natural gas market and for many years prevented other suppliers from accessing the network. Similarly, Moldovagaz was the only company entitled to supply gas to the Transnistrian region, under an exception provided for in the legislation, because it was the only one that had a contract with Gazprom and Tiraspoltransgaz. For the same reason, the separation of the three types of activities, known as unbundling, a commitment made by the Republic of Moldova back in 2010, has been postponed several times until October 2026, when the current contract between Moldovagaz and Gazprom expires, in an attempt to maintain supplies and avoid economic and humanitarian collapse on the left bank of the Nistru. In fact, the separation of distribution from supply was achieved in 2016, but the separation of the transmission operator, attempted in 2020-2021, failed.

What is unbundling and why is it happening now?

After Gazprom stopped deliveries to the Transnistrian region at the beginning of 2025, postponing unbundling no longer makes sense, because gas reaches the Transnistrian region through other mechanisms. Since February 2025, a company in the United Arab Emirates has been paying a company in the Hungarian MET group, registered in Switzerland, which purchases gas and delivers it to the Transnistrian region. However, the scheme is non-transparent and unsustainable.  As a result, the deadline for Moldovagaz to separate its supply, transport, and distribution activities has been revised by the National Agency for Energy Regulation of the Republic of Moldova (ANRE) at the proposal of the Ministry of Energy and brought forward to July 31, 2025. If this does not happen, Moldovagaz will lose its supply licence and the supply activity will be transferred to Energocom, which took over the public service obligation in this regard following a tender organised by the National Agency for Energy Regulation of the Republic of Moldova (ANRE).

However, unbundling was only partially achieved when, in September 2023, Vestmoldtransgaz, the company that operates the Iași-Chișinău gas pipeline and is owned by the Romanian gas transmission system operator Transgaz and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), took over gas transmission from Moldovatransgaz. The takeover took place through a network lease agreement.

From August 1, Moldovagaz will only be responsible for natural gas distribution, i.e., delivering gas from the connection points of the high-pressure transport networks to end consumers.

This will eliminate an intermediary in the gas supply process – Moldovagaz – which, following the cessation of deliveries from Gazprom and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as a legal entity affiliated with Gazprom, can no longer purchase gas on international markets. In other words, since 2023, Moldovagaz's work of purchasing gas on the wholesale market has been carried out by Energocom.

Russian gas through intermediaries and at a higher price?

Several pro-Russian parties are promoting the idea that Energocom would buy the same Russian gas, but through intermediaries, at inflated prices, which would be passed on to consumers, while the profits would be hidden in offshore accounts.

Firstly, tariffs have risen because Russia has repeatedly used energy as a weapon, trying to blackmail European countries. Thus, in 2021, international gas prices reached record levels of up to $3,000 per thousand cubic meters. In November 2022, Gazprom, the only gas supplier to the Republic of Moldova, with which the Republic of Moldova has a supply contract signed until October 2026, unilaterally reduced deliveries to a level that covered only the consumption of the Transnistrian region. Energocom, with the support of experts provided by the European Union, began to purchase gas on exchanges and from international traders, including stockpiling for the winter. On the exchanges, the price is public and set transparently, unlike the contracts with Gazprom, which from 2006 to 2021 were based on a formula imposed by Russia, based on the average price of Gazprom gas in Europe, and were never negotiated in the direct sense of the word.

Secondly, as a result of Gazprom's aggressive and unpredictable policy, European countries have stopped buying Russian gas, and Gazprom's share in the EU has fallen from 45% in 2019 to just 7% in 2023. This means that there is simply not enough Russian gas that can reach Moldova from European countries, and these figures contradict the manipulations of pro-Russian parties in Moldova.

Where do we get our gas from and how much do we pay for it?

Energocom procures gas on the free market using both its own resources and a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which in turn has strict rules on the qualification of supplier companies and the organization of tenders.

Previously, Energocom conducted purchase and sale transactions with Moldovagaz “in mirror (Mirror Trading)” meaning it procured gas only upon orders from Gazprom’s subsidiary. Now, with it being clear that Energocom will take over gas supply without Moldovagaz’s intermediation, the company has established a clear strategy for gas supply in the Republic of Moldova. To date, it has already procured 350 million cubic meters of gas, nearly half of the requirement for the upcoming heating season.

This strategy, approved by the company's board, ensures purchases at the best prices on the market and guarantees uninterrupted gas supplies. Eugeniu Buzatu, the company's director, says that prices and suppliers, as well as other aspects relevant to procurement, will be announced after deliveries are completed, as required by the contract terms, but also so as not to influence the prices in the bids. "If we were to announce the purchase prices or the ceiling price, what do you think the bids received in the tenders would be? Exactly the price set by the council and higher than the competitively submitted bids. Therefore, as long as the purchases are ongoing and the entire quantity of gas required has not yet been procured, Energocom will maintain discretion regarding prices, contractual partners, and individual contract volumes, but I can assure you that they will be announced transparently at the appropriate time."

In 2024, SA Energocom purchased over 830 million cubic meters at a weighted average price of approximately US$444/1,000 cubic meters. The natural gas was purchased from eight companies in the EU, plus the Romanian Commodities Exchange (BRM). Over two-thirds of the volumes came from entities in Romania: OMV Petrom, Romgaz, Engie Energy Romania, and BRM.

The gas purchased is delivered on a firm basis in the month of consumption and is purchased at both a fixed price and a price indexed to the quotations of the main exchanges in Central and Southeastern Europe, such as TTF (Title Transfer Facility) in the Netherlands and BRM (Romanian Commodity Exchange) in Romania. This is the case everywhere in the world, with the possible exception of Belarus. Even contracts between Moldovagaz and Gazprom were linked to the TTF exchange, and previously, for about 20 years, to the Platts oil index.

Why isn't gas bought directly from the Dutch exchange? Because transport fees through all the transit countries (9 transport operators) would make the price uncompetitive, meaning higher than if it were bought on the Romanian exchange and transported directly to Moldova.

How are we paying for the natural gas?

There has been much criticism of the state-guaranteed loan that Energocom took out from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, claiming that servicing the loan would mean stealing tens of millions of euros from consumers. In fact, the mechanism is quite simple to understand. Previously, Moldovagaz paid monthly for the gas supplied by Gazprom. That is, it collected money from consumers and transferred it to the supplier. Now, because stocks are being built up for the whole year, with payments in advance, huge sums are needed that will be tied up for months. In fact, in 2024, Moldovagaz paid only $50 million from its own resources for stored gas, with the rest of the purchases being made from money collected from consumers one month after delivery.

So far, Energocom has demonstrated that it can learn very quickly and manage highly sophisticated activities. Let us just remember that in 2022, no one in Moldova knew how to procure gas or electricity from exchanges. Everything was procured from Gazprom and the Moldavskaya GRES power plant (MGRES) located in Transnistria. In a very short time, Energocom managed to obtain licenses in a number of countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria, etc. It was the first company to use the gas interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria on a commercial basis when it was put into operation, the first to use the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline in reverse mode, and the first to import liquefied natural gas from the United States on the very first ship to dock at the Alexandroupolis LNG Terminal in Greece.

In addition to these developments, recent amendments to the Natural Gas Law stipulate that the public service provider designated by the National Agency for Energy Regulation of the Republic of Moldova (ANRE), which will be taken over by Energocom, is required to adopt a Natural Gas Procurement Strategy by March 31 of each year.

In another context, by October 1, 2025, the National Agency for Energy Regulation of the Republic of Moldova (ANRE) will approve a schedule for the gradual liberalization of the market, so that large consumers will enter the free market no later than the end of the next heating season—April 1, 2026— and all consumers will have access to a price comparison tool, an online tool that will allow each consumer to compare offers from gas suppliers and decide to switch suppliers.