CET-Nord Losses in 2022 Increased 10 Times: Gas Prices to Be Blamed

CET-Nord from Balti, the second largest producer of electricity and heat in Moldova (excluding the Transnistrian Region), registered a revenue of 649.12 million lei last year, which is 56% more than in 2021. The increase in sales is mainly due to a significant increase in the cost of electricity and heat produced by CET-Nord as a result of expensive gas. At the same time, last year there was an almost 10-fold increase in the company’s losses, which reached 167.12 million lei, compared with 17.25 million lei in 2021. This is a consequence of an almost threefold increase in the price of gas purchased by CET-Nord from Moldovagaz, which also led to a significant increase in debts to the gas supplier. The auditor Moore Stephens even notes that SA CET-Nord “is not able to pay off its creditors on time”, registering in the balance sheet as of December 31, 2022 the debt to SA Moldovagaz in the total amount of 203.1 million lei. “The current situation is the result of a significant increase in the price of natural gas consumed during 2022, and the result of an untimely adjustment by ANRE of the price for electricity produced and the tariff for heat supplied. The factors presented earlier point to significant uncertainties that could materially cast doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern and, as a result, the company may not be able to capitalize its assets and generate sufficient liquidity to rid itself of current debt,” the auditor says. On the other hand, CET-Nord informs that last year it finally succeeded in repaying the historical debt of 77 million lei to Balti-Gaz and, thus, to achieve the lifting of the bans imposed by the bailiff on real estate and transport. It should be noted that recently CET Nord demanded from ANRE to increase the tariff for thermal energy by almost 12 percent. CET Nord requires a tariff of 4,373 lei per gigacalorie, compared to 3,905 lei at present. It should be noted that last year the company produced about 94 million kWh of electricity, but supplied 84.3 million kWh. At the same time, about 181.9 thousand Gcal of thermal energy was generated, and 131.7 thousand Gcal were supplied to consumers, whereof about 37.3 thousand are accounted for by losses in transport and distribution grid. After the modernization of generating capacities with external financing, CET-Nord switched to gas, abandoning oil-fired units. Thus, it has no alternative to gas, as is the case with Termoelectrica from Chisinau. The company has 100% state capital.