The new methodology for calculating fuel price ceilings agreed by the National Agency for Energy Regulation (NAER) goes against the market economy principles, encourages monopoly and is aimed at eliminating small oil sellers, considers the Agency’s ex-director Victor Parlicov.
According to the energy expert, the new methodology for calculating prices is destructive for the oil market of the Republic of Moldova as similar rulers for oil sellers with different costs and profits cannot be set down, IPN reports.
“The attempt to regulate the prices by setting a ceiling on a competition market is not a good solution and this is doomed to failure from the start. The law provides that we have a market economy and we should thus create conditions on the competition market so that the oil sellers compete between them for consumers. Now the NAER pursues the goal of setting a profit margin that de facto cannot be set as each company has different contracts and different costs,” Victor Parlicov stated in the talk show “Friday with Anatolie Golea” on RTR Moldova channel.
According to the expert, the new calculation methodology will lead to the institution of a monopoly on the market and will eliminate small sellers from the market.
“There is a risk that the small oil sellers will disappear from the market. They will be unable to meet the profit margin set by the NAER as there are companies that sell 1 tonne of fuel a day and there are companies that sell 10 tonne of fuel a day. If the goal is to eliminate the small sellers, the decision is probably good,” stated Victor Parlicov.
The new law that was proposed to Parliament by independent MP Alexandru Oleinic provides that the fuel prices are set by each company separately and cannot exceed the price ceiling set by the NAER. The price ceiling is calculated by the regulatory institution depending on the Platts quotations and the excise duty and VAT rates specified by the Tax Code once in 14 days.