“No Chaos”: Moldovagaz to Hand Over Customer Base to Energocom

Starting August 1, the state-owned company Energocom may become the main supplier of natural gas in Moldova. Following the revocation of Moldovagaz’s license, the company will have to transfer to Energocom its database, which includes over 830,000 customers, as well as all related infrastructure. Moldovagaz is ready to fulfill these obligations in accordance with the law by signing a contract with Energocom. Consumers have nothing to worry about – the transition will happen automatically. This was stated on June 2 by Vadim Cheban, Acting Chairman of the Board of JSC Moldovagaz, in an interview with the program New Week with Anatolie Golea on TV8. “There will definitely be no chaos on the gas market. The procedures usually applied during an individual supplier switch will not be used in this case. The transition will be centralized and automatic, based on the relevant decision. Consumers will not notice any change. They will continue receiving the same bills, only instead of saying Moldovagaz, they will say Energocom,” Cheban explained. He emphasized that the issue of providing the customer database is not even up for discussion: by law, Moldovagaz is obligated to transfer it to the new supplier. In addition to the customer registry, Energocom will receive everything necessary to manage the system, including functions for monitoring, meter reading, and issuing payment invoices. Cheban noted that Energocom would not be able to independently create a customer database in two months – or even in a longer period. Currently, Moldovagaz is awaiting the second reading in Parliament of a law that will outline in detail the procedure for transferring assets and the future cooperation between Moldovagaz and Energocom. Services related to the maintenance and operation of the gas transmission system will be purchased by Energocom from Moldovagaz on a contractual basis, similar to the current arrangement with VestMoldTransgaz. Energocom will be responsible for gas supply and coordination with the gas distribution companies that are part of the Moldovagaz system. According to Cheban, this process will take place “under the close supervision” of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE).