September 15 (SeeNews) - Moldova’s energy regulator, ANRE, said on Friday it has imposed a 34 million lei ($1.9 million/1.8 million euro) fine on gas transmission system operator Moldovatransgaz for failing to comply with legal obligations related to the separation of gas transmission activities from those of natural gas suppliers.
Moldovatransgaz failed to ensure its independence from the vertically integrated, public natural gas supplier Moldovagaz, in which Russia's Gazprom is a majority shareholder, ANRE said in a press release.
Gazprom owns 50% of Moldovagaz, the Moldovan government owns 35.33% and the remainder is held by the government of Transnistria, the pro-Russian separatist republic in eastern Moldova.
A recent international audit revealed that Moldovagaz owed $8.6 million (8 million euro) to Gazprom, challenging a $709 million historical debt claim made by the Russian company, Moldova’s energy ministry said earlier this month.
On September 5, Romania's gas transmission company Transgaz [BSE:TGN] announced that it signed a tenancy agreement whereby it takes over the activity of operating, exploiting, dispatching and transmitting gas in neighbouring Moldova from Moldovatransgaz, starting 19 September 2023. The agreement was signed due to Moldovatransgaz' failure to comply with the unbundling requirements calling for separation of the activities of transmission system operators from those of gas suppliers.
The Romanian state owns a majority stake of 58.5% in Transgaz, while the remainder is in free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.
Transgaz shares traded 0.33% higher at 18 Romanian lei ($3.9/3.6 euro) as at 1551 CET on Friday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
(1 euro=19.2982 Moldovan lei)