The Reform of the Energy Sector in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

In economies in transition, including the Republic of Moldova, the reform of the energy sector should be carried out as quickly as possible, since this is a prerequisite for enhancing the country's energy security, as well as for integrating the internal energy market with the European one. It is obvious that one cannot imagine a modern, evolving economy without an efficient energy sector, that is capable of providing and sustaining with energy resources different sectors of the economy, alongside with areas related to social development. The major current problems that the energy sector is facing today include: supply, network losses, inefficiencies of the energy market, environmental impact, poor sources of investments, thus, making the sector unsustainable; and this is largely due to absence of an adequate institutional framework. In addition, all mentioned above is aggravated by complexity and difficulty of the problem related to inclusion of our country into Energy Package IV, which envisions the reform of the sector applying standards of the European Union aimed at overcoming obstacles caused by the economic and financial crisis that we are going through. Therefore, enhancement of the quality and security of the energy sector can only be achieved if restructured energy industries rest on a stable and sustainable financial foundation.Through this research, the authors set the following objective: identification of problems and offering viable solutions regarding the reform of the energy sector of the country using best European practices. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53486/cike2023.18; UDC: 338.24.021.8:620.9(478) JEL: M1, L9, O13.