Vestmoldtransgaz Invests Almost Nothing in Moldova’s Gas Infrastructure

Two years after the transfer of Moldova's natural gas transportation networks from Moldovatransgaz to Vestmoldtransgaz, it became clear that the latter was not fulfilling its investment obligations. Last year, two years after Vestmoldtransgaz took over the gas transmission network from Moldovatransgaz in September 2023, the National Agency for Energy Regulation conducted an audit of the company, which is owned by Transgaz of Romania (75%) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (25%), Mold-Street reports. According to the regulator, the results of the inspection raise concerns about the country’s gas safety. Thus, ANRE found that in 2024, Vestmoldtransgaz invested only 1.3% of its own funds from the annual investment plan approved by the regulator. This, as the agency notes, could lead to problems with the reliability and continuity of natural gas supplies to consumers. According to ANRE data, Vestmoldtransgaz’s investment plan for 2024 envisaged investments of 189.38 million lei, of which 99.03 million lei (more than 52%) were to come from the financial resources of Moldovatransgaz, a company owned by Moldovagaz, which is controlled by the Russian concern Gazprom. Later, the investment plan for 2024 was cut almost in half, to 100.8 million lei. Of this amount, 84.33 million lei was to come from Moldovatransgaz, and about 16 million lei from Vestmoldtransgaz. Taking into account the percentage specified in the ANRE decision, Vestmoldtransgaz’s actual investments amounted to only a few hundred thousand lei. The audit also showed that two years after the transfer of the networks, Vestmoldtransgaz had not concluded lease agreements with all gas transmission network owners to replace the previous network maintenance transfer agreements signed by Moldovatransgaz. In addition, according to ANRE, Vestmoldtransgaz did not submit proposals on a mechanism for compensating the costs of using the transmission networks to all system owners. Another violation is related to the fact that Vestmoldtransgaz did not complete the procedure for accepting the volumes of natural gas that were in the networks at the time of transfer on September 19, 2023, and does not have supporting documents for these volumes.