Romania sells electricity to Moldova twice as expensive as to its own market

CHISINAU, 15 Oct – PRIME. The Romanian state-owned enterprise Hidroelectrica (Hydroelectric) sells electricity to Moldova at almost twice the price than for the domestic market, Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said.

“In Romania, the price (for electricity for individuals is 255 lei (44.3 dollars – ed.), we are talking about the net price of electricity from Hidroelectrica.” To the Republic of Moldova, the company sells electricity for 450 lei, that is, in the amount of 90 euros (for 1 MWh),” Bucharest radio station Europa FM quoted Popescu as saying.

Earlier, Hidroelectrica and the Moldovan state-owned enterprise Energocom (“Energocom”) signed an agreement for the supply of electricity to Moldova. Connection to the power grids of Romania took place on 14 October.

Moldova is in an energy crisis due to rising energy prices. In addition, since October 11, Ukraine has stopped supplying electricity to the republic. Chisinau said that the main supplier of electricity remained the Moldavskaya GRES (located in Transnistria), which sells electricity at a price of $62.5 per 1 MWh.

The authorities called on the population of the country to urgently save electricity, especially from 7.00 to 10.00 and from 18.00 to 23.00 Moscow time, and state-owned enterprises also received instructions to reduce energy consumption.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spinu said that the republic will be able to purchase up to 30% of the required volume of electricity from Romania at a price of 90 euros per MW.