The joint stock company Energocom, which holds a license for the supply of natural gas, is to be designated as holder of the storage obligation. By October 1, the company must store 102.4 million cubic meters of gas. This is provided in a draft decision published by the Ministry of Energy for public consultations, IPN reports.

The Ministry refers to the new legal provisions stipulating that the Government takes the necessary measures to ensure the use, by November 1 of each calendar year, of the natural gas storage capacity that would correspond to a level of at least 15% of the average annual consumption, determined for the last five calendar years. The quantity that corresponds to 15% of the average annual natural gas consumption of final consumers in the Republic of Moldova is 149.5 million cubic meters.

Energocom is to take the necessary actions to reserve the capacity in storage facilities and transmission capacity at cross-border interconnection points, and to also conclude relevant agreements with transmission system operators, storage facility operators and/or other gas market participants in countries that are part of the Energy Community and/or member states of the European Union where such storage facilities exist.