Electricity procurement in Moldova has been monitored for the first time by a group of observers. The group was made up of representatives of the Energy Community Secretariat, the EU Delegation to Moldova, the EU High-Level Advisers' Mission to Moldova, the national regulatory authority ANRE and the Ministry of Economy of Moldova. The observers participated in meetings related to electricity procurement and reviewed the documents made available to them. Source

The group of observers noted positive developments compared to previous years. The 2017 Guidelines significantly improved the procurement procedure in a situation where only two external sources of supply exist: the Ukrainian Power Market and the Moldavskaya GRES power plant (MGRES). This year, there was real competition between the state-owned trader Energocom (which purchases electricity from Ukraine) and MGRES.

However, much remains to be improved. The regulatory authority ANRE was not active within the group of observers and the role of the Ministry of Economy in the whole procedure was too prominent given its affiliation with the ultimate winner of the procedure, Energocom. These shortcomings should be corrected next year, while the mid-term goal should be a deeper electricity market reform in Moldova and further integration with the Ukrainian power market.