We would have expected that prices on the natural gas market would be reliberalized, but we are convinced that the decision to delay liberalization was taken following a serious analysis, said the vice president of the Competition Council, Dan Pascu.
“We would have expected and expect that prices on the natural gas market will be reliberalized. Now we do not know in what parameters this capping scheme will be extended, neither in terms of the temporal vector, nor in terms of prices. We recently transmitted, in the perspective of reliberalization, to the Romanian Government a point of view through which we obviously support this reliberalization. I want to emphasize that this is the point of view of the competition authority which has the perspective of the functioning of the markets and ensuring efficient competition on the market, we do not take into account when formulating points of view other aspects such as the protection of the vulnerable end consumer, possibly a political necessity to delay the reliberalization process. This arising from a possible market entry of Romgaz, following the Hidroelectrica model on the electricity market, which would exert pressure on traditional natural gas suppliers and which would be reflected in a relatively short term in lower prices”, Pascu conveyed.
The Competition Council official added that, following the analysis of the suppliers’ public offers, after April 1, 2026, “there was no imminent and serious danger of price explosion on the natural gas market”.
“We are convinced that the decision to delay, to delay liberalization, was taken following a serious analysis, although from all the analyses we have, there would not have emerged or there was no imminent and serious danger of price explosion on the natural gas market, from the public offers of the largest suppliers, which we have in the analysis. So, it emerged that the prices they would have offered after April 1, 2026 would have been lower or higher, in any case around the value of the price that is now regulated on the market”, mentioned Dan Pascu.
According to the cited source, the institution it represents has not established a public communication strategy regarding a possible extension of the term for regulating prices on the natural gas market.
“We have not yet established a public communication strategy regarding a possible extension of the term for regulating prices on the natural gas market. We expected that, from April 1, the measures would be lifted, on the one hand. On the other hand, we are the authority that oversees the functioning of the markets. Obviously, in a regulated market, our vigilance is less alert, it is more atrophied, because you have nothing to check (…) The price regulation measure in November 2021 was a necessary and legitimate one. When a year and a little earlier, in July 2020, we finally managed to liberalize the natural gas market in Romania, no one in the European Union or even globally could have anticipated that Putin would try to pay a “visit” to Ukraine. Prices have exploded, consumers needed to be protected, so the measure was welcome. The fact that it was not hasty is also reflected in the fact that at European level all other member states have resorted to the same measure to regulate natural gas prices in various forms. However, it comes with the great disadvantage of atrophying competition on the market”, the vice-president of the competition authority stated.