By CHISINAU. Jan 17 (Interfax) – Moldova cut gas consumption almost 25% year-on-year in 2023, Moldovagaz CEO Vadim Ceban said on Wednesday.
“Natural gas consumption amounted to 657.2 million cubic meters with a total cost of 14.762 billion lei [$820 million] in Moldova in 2023. In 2022, consumption amounted to 847.2 million cubic meters for a total amount of 15,308.5 billion lei [$850 million]. Thus, natural gas consumption in 2023 decreased by almost a quarter, by 190 million cubic meters, and in monetary terms by 0.5 billion lei [$28 million],” Ceban said on Telegram.
According to Moldovagaz, the level of payment for gas consumed in 2023 amounted to 98% or 12.252 billion (-1.3%). During the year, 6,096 households were disconnected from the network, due to the owners’ debt totaling 28.8 million lei, in addition to 622 legal entities with a debt totaling 28.8 million lei.
Experts attribute the reduced consumption to very high gas prices in the 2022-2023 heating season. In this regard, consumers saved gas, and the Termoelectica company, which supplies heat to the homes of Chisinau residents, switched from gas to fuel oil.
Since the beginning of the 2023-2024 heating season, gas has become cheaper by almost 25% compared to the beginning of the previous heating season. For this reason, households began to consume more gas, and Termoelectica switched to gas again. This led to the fact that in December 2023, Moldovan consumers used 137.8 million cubic meters of gas, which is 35.4% more than in December 2022.
