The Competition Council signaled the competitive concern regarding the draft ANRE decision on the approval of the natural gas trading platform

The Competition Council examined the draft decision of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) on the approval of the natural gas trading platform, operated by "BRM East Energy" LLC. This platform is an electronic trading platform, through which offers for the purchase / sale of natural gas can be placed and accepted. The creation of such a platform is stipulated in the Natural Gas Networks Code, which was approved by ANRE Decision no. 4020/2019.

Respectively, it was proposed, for a period of 3 years with the possibility of extending the term, the approval of the natural gas trading platform, operated by the company "BRM East Energy". When carrying out its activity, the company will be obliged to comply with the legal requirements regarding the activity of commodity exchanges and the provisions of the ANRE normative acts.

At the same time, taking into account the provisions of the competition law, it is presumed that the given undertaking will hold a dominant position in this field. Respectively, "BRM East Energy" LLC will have a special responsibility not to admit the use of its economic power to the detriment of its customers and, ultimately, to the detriment of consumers. In this connection, the Competition Council expresses concern that, according to the submitted draft, the terms and conditions applicable to this trading platform will be presented already after the approval of the platform by ANRE.

Therefore, in order to ensure the predictability of the natural gas trading rules and the costs for the intermediation services of the transactions on the given platform, the Competition Council considers it opportune for ANRE to approve the natural gas trading platform operated by "BRM East Energy" LLC simultaneously with the terms and conditions applicable to this trading platform.

The romanian version of the opinion can be viewed on the official website: www.competition.md, at the Transparency department, Notices by accessing: Link