Business Community Wants Cheaper Gas

The Romanian Business People"s Association (AOAR) is again asking energy market regulator ANRE to provide public explanations and arguments for the very hasty announcement that the price of gas will remain unchanged after 1 April 2009. AOAR issued a press release stating that they could not understand ANRE"s announcement, considering that the price of oil had been decreasing for six continuous months and that the oil price had previously been used as the explanation for gas price increases.

AOAR also pointed out that that gas imports from the Russian Federation had been decreasing for three months, while the price remained below 500 EUR/ 1000 cubic meters. AOAR stressed that they had asked ANRE to use the French model for regulating the price of natural gas, but no reaction or explanation had occurred. AOAR therefore asked the Ministry of Economy and the Prime Minister to audit ANRE and to take action on their lack of transparency in the decision-making process, especially considering the very difficult circumstances that the major industries were facing.

ANRE in early January announced that the price paid by individual consumers for natural gas would not change, following the decrease of gas imports. "The prices will remain the same at least in the first half of 2009, even though we may use larger quantities of domestic gas, which is cheaper than imported gas," then ANRE President Nicolae Opris stated during the Russian gas crisis. "Our objective is to maintain the price of gas constant throughout the year," Opris added.