In the next two months, gas and heat suppliers are to come up with a procurement plan for product diversification for one year. It is one of the actions formulated during the discussions organized by the parliamentary Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance in the context of the recent natural gas price hikes, IPN reports.

"One of our demands is that these purchases should not be made all at once. They should be made progressively, to be divided into contracts, with different price formulas, suppliers and periods, in order to reduce the risk of market turbulence", said the commission's chairman, member of Parliament Radu Marian.

The discussions recommended a number of actions for the Energy Ministry. These include avoiding direct intervention in day-to-day procurement and price estimation. On the other hand, the Energy Ministry is to make further efforts to identify strategic suppliers. The institution is also to set annual performance indicators for energy companies and their management.

According to Vadim Ceban, acting president of Moldovagaz, Moldova is supplied with natural gas for 80% of the estimated consumption for the cold season. The existing stocks are sufficient for the months of December and January, and now the supplier is to make purchases for February and March - 163.4 million cubic meters.

Last week, the National Energy Regulatory Agency approved an increase in natural gas tariffs to 15.5 lei per cubic meter, 3.4 lei more than at present. With VAT, the price comes to 16.74 lei. The adjusted prices took effect on December 1.