Two More Romanian Companies Receive Licenses to Trade Gas in Moldova

In July, two more companies received licenses to operate in the natural gas trade in Moldova. These are SRL NPGEM and Watt Prime SRL, whose founders are Romanian citizens. The licenses were issued for a period of 10 years, according to data from the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), reports mold-street.com. As a result, the number of companies officially operating in the natural gas trading market in Moldova has increased to four. In March, the company Proaltgaz received such a license, and in May – MET Furnizare, part of the Hungarian group MET, which is involved in the gas supply scheme to the Transnistrian region. The company SRL NPGEM belongs to the Romanian firm Nova Power & Gas, which is part of the E-INFRA group with a turnover of about one billion dollars. The owners of E-INFRA are Teofil Muresan (55% of shares), Simion Adrian Muresan (25%), and Marian Pantazescu (20%). E-INFRA, directly or through its subsidiaries, is involved in two major energy projects in Romania together with partners – Nuclearelectrica and Transelectrica. This concerns the project of Romania’s first small modular nuclear reactor (SMR), which is planned to be commissioned in 2029–2030 in Doicesti, Dambovita County. The reactor is planned to be built on the site of a former thermal power plant, the site of which belongs to Nova Power & Gas (part of the E-INFRA group). The project is being developed and implemented by the project company RoPower Nuclear, whose shareholders are Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas in equal shares. The second major project involving companies from the E-INFRA group is a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line (5,000 MW), which is expected to run through Romania along the route of the BRUA gas pipeline. As for the company Watt Prime SRL, it already holds a license to supply electricity in the Republic of Moldova. The founder of the company is Encon Prime SRL – a small electricity trader from Romania.