This is provided for by amendments to the Law on the Petroleum Products Market and other laws that the Moldovan Parliament adopted in the second reading of the amendments to increase competition and efficiency in this market. In particular, the approved bill provides for a temporary moratorium on the construction of new gas stations, given that an excessive number of stations leads to higher costs and a greater increase in retail fuel prices. The moratorium will remain in effect until the authorities develop much more stringent criteria for the construction of these stations. The adopted amendments also provide for a reduction in the license fee for the import and wholesale of gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied gas by 80 times - from 260 thousand to 3250 lei per year. The changes also stipulate an increase of up to 10 times the amount of fines applied to oil companies for violating the law in this area. Currently, these fines range from 3,000 to 15,000 lei. The authors consider these amounts to be symbolic in comparison with the income of hundreds of millions of lei that the companies participating in the market receive, as well as in comparison with the potential harm that a violation of the rules can bring. At the same time, within the framework of the second reading, it was decided to exclude the proposed ban, restrictions on the wholesale resale of petroleum products. In addition, it was decided to introduce the mandatory use of an electronic invoice for the purchase of gasoline and diesel fuel by legal entities, as a measure to reduce the risk of undeclared sales, which will enter into force on May 1, 2022. Along with this, the right of the Consumer Rights Protection Agency to issue inspection acts, other normative acts. Earlier, one of the authors of the bill, Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Economy, Budget and Finance, PAS deputy Radu Marian noted that the proposed amendments are intended, first of all, to serve consumers in order to reduce prices and improve the quality of fuel and to promote increased competition in the oil products market in Moldova.

Source: infomarket.md