MEF: “The price of gas price was not part of negotiations with the EC”

“Regarding the price of domestically produced natural gas, the Accession Treaty does not include any commitment to align this to the price of imported natural gas,” representatives of the Romanian Minstry for Economy and Finances (MEF) told Business Standard. This declaration was made in response to the European Commission’s (EC) request that Romania should align prices of domestically produced natural gas to those of imported gas. Otherwise the prices practiced by domestic companies could be considered state subsidies.

“What we are saying is that when it decided to enter the internal community market Romania agreed to align its prices for natural gas to those on the EU market. Romania must change its legislation in order to be in compliance with the Treaty provisions. In some way, the current price could be considered state subsidy,” Ferran Tarradellas, spokesperson for Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, told NewsIn.

MEF officials admitted that the issue of price alignment was raised during negotiations, but that was only because at that time the prices did not completely cover costs, and thus the energy market was distorted. The present situation is totally different, as prices are set by the specialized Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), covering costs, and the price of gas increased some three times over the level during negotiations, added Romanian energy officials.