Authorities seek ways to make possible fuel price hikes "gradual"
The measure aims to reduce the country’s vulnerability to import disruptions or regional supply crises.
Energy Minister Jungietu said the proposed model is a hybrid model, with storage responsibility shared between the state and market participants.
“Half of the storage liability will be provided by the central storage facility and the other half by the importing companies. Thus, the responsibility is shared between the public sector and the market, without creating an excessive burden on the budget and without blocking the activities of economic operators,” the Minister said.
According to the project, by 2034, reserves equivalent to 61 days of consumption or 90 days of imports will be formed. At least half of these reserves will be stored on the territory of Moldova, while the rest can be placed abroad or in intangible form.
“At the same time, the law opens the way for the development of storage infrastructure and logistics services, which over time can provide greater security, stability and predictability for the entire economy,” the minister added.
Additional levy
As previously reported by Logos Press, the authorities plan to introduce an additional levy; to finance this mechanism, a special levy will be introduced, included in the price of fuel (gasoline, diesel and liquefied gas), in the amount of approximately 0.48 lei per liter or kilogram at the initial stage. Of this amount, part will be allocated to the creation and administration of state reserves through a specially created structure, while another part will be used to cover the importers’ costs of maintaining these emergency reserves. At this stage, the total annual burden for citizens and the economy is expected to be about LE 528 million.
Once the system is fully implemented and the necessary stocks are built up, the contribution is planned to be reduced to about 0.25 lei per liter or kilogram. In this case, the annual cost for the economy is estimated at about 275 million lei. The aim of these measures is to create a sustainable financing mechanism for the formation and maintenance of fuel reserves needed in case of crises or supply disruptions.
“Recent geopolitical events, including tensions in the Middle East, have once again shown how fragile the stability of international energy markets and petroleum products supply chains can be. In such circumstances, security of supply is no longer a technical or abstract concept – it is directly reflected in fuel prices, in the mobility of people and in the functioning of everyday economies,” the Minister said.
