* Prices in the industry will not double overnight
The authorities need to liberalize the market for gas and electricity and to announce a schedule for doing so, exactly this year. The process of liberalization means that the regulatory authority (ANRE) would only set the prices of gas and energy for vulnerable consumers, particularly for the population. Thus, all companies will negotiate their prices with suppliers under free market conditions. This will also help resolve the infringement procedure which the European Commission launched against Romania and which is at an advanced stage.
Hilmar Kroat-Reder, a member of the Executive Board, in charge of Natural Gas, Power and Chemicals, said, in an interview: "The Romanian authorities are now debating the amendment of the laws of energy and gas in order to implement a program for the liberalization of markets. Concerning the natural gas market, Petrom has proposed its liberalization, and the gradual elimination of the well-known < basket > which sets the ratio of domestic gas and of imported gas and which defines the population as a vulnerable consumer. For the former, Petrom has proposed supplying only domestically produced natural gas, at the current price, which currently costs half of the price of imported gas. This would reduce household gas bills by 15%".
He said that at the moment, the natural gas market is not free. Companies don"t have a real ability of negotiating volumes and pricing with their suppliers. For instance, in the case of domestically produced gas, Petrom is not allowed to charge more than the price set by the ANRE (the equivalent of 150-160 dollars/1,000 cubic meters) for the regulated market, because the ANRE basically imposes a price cap. The Petrom official explained: "Consumers who opted to change their supplier can return to the regulated market at any time if we cha
