OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2012. In the draft law of amenments to the Law of Market the comparison of costs and profits receive at foreign and Moldovan companies showeed that the margin of domestic fuel companies is several times higher. Besides, changes in the Platts quatations do not affect the prices in Moldova. Experts of the Ministry of Economy point out that the oil market is too concentrated in Moldova, where about 85% of the market is controlled by 5 companies.

This situation roots in exorbitant requirements to oil companies, which have to have tankers at a volume of 5 thou c.m. and the minimum required capital of 8 mln. leis. This creates disloya competition and barriers to new operators. Besides, the current methodology of the pricing in inefficient since, overlapped with the lack of competition in the oil market, it enables the operators to raise prices arbitrary, without ensuring transparency of charges included into the formula, and does not encourage them to be more efficient.

According to the companies themselves, their profitability varies from 1.8% to 3.8%. These indicators show it is useless to limit the maximum permissible profitability to 10%, especially if the transparency of charges including into the pricing formula is not guaranteed, experts say. Thus, as the Ministry states, the request to raise the maximum price for fuel, as well as the 3-year long inspection of ANRE, is rather formal and not dependent on actual costs of oil companies.