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TGE wants to actively enter into these developing relations by offering the Moldovan side many years of experience and knowledge on the organization and operation of stock commodity markets. We consider cooperation with Moldavian Energocom under the agreement signed in Chisinau as our first step in this market,” said Piotr Listwoń, COO, Vice President of the Polish Power Exchange (TGE) in an interview with BiznesAlert.pl.
BiznesAlert.pl: How is TGE involved in Central and Eastern Europe?
Piotr Listwoń: The region is perceived in TGE’s strategic plans as having significant potential for business cooperation. It can be pursued with different scope and different configurations. We see most of these opportunities primarily in the natural gas markets. In this case, the South-East European Gas Initiative – SEEGAS, established by the Energy Community Secretariat, creates the organisational and communication framework. TGE, together with other exchanges and transmission operators from the region, is working on practical solutions, the implementation of which will make it possible to open the markets even wider and increase the liquidity of cross-border gas trade. Of course, we are not limited to this multilateral format of cooperation. We also try to build relationships in other constellations with specific partners. In 2021, TGE joined a memorandum, alongside two other southern European gas exchanges, i.e. Romanian BRM and Greek EnEx.
Another example of our international activity is the relationship, built with the participation of our clearing house (IRGiT), with Balkan Gas Hub (BGH) – an entity that organizes gas trading on the Bulgarian market, which also has regional ambitions. In October 2022, IRGiT signed a letter of intent with BGH, which provides for the drafting of an offer by our chamber regarding settlement services for the markets operated by the Bulgarian gas exchange.
What other directions does TGE take into account?
The geographical scope of our business plans also includes Ukraine, which before the war had the largest gas market in the region. We are ready to participate in the process of economic recovery of this country and to contribute to the creation of modern solutions for the organization of trade in commodities in Ukraine. In this case, we will be able to join the projects possibly after the war is over.
It should also be mentioned that thanks to the GIPL gas connection with Lithuania, new opportunities for cooperation have also opened up in this direction, which we cannot ignore. We are talking to our partners, with the participation of state institutions, to create commercial solutions similar to those that work very well in Poland.
What will be the role of TGE in cooperation with Moldova?
We have been monitoring the situation in Moldova for several years, noticing the country’s great needs in terms of strengthening security and reforming energy and natural gas markets. At the moment, we are seeing that the Moldovan authorities are very open to cooperation with Poland and more broadly with the European Union. TGE wants to actively enter into these developing relations by offering the Moldovan side many years of experience and knowledge on the organization and operation of stock commodity markets. We consider cooperation with Moldavian Energocom under the agreement signed in Chisinau as our first step in this market, which, in our opinion, has significant potential for our further activity in the field of gas, electricity, but also agricultural-food goods.
What are the prospects for Moldova’s energy transition?
In the case of Moldova, dominated by natural gas, as important as the transformation leading to climate neutrality is also the reorganization of the market based on the standards adopted in the European Union (which Moldova has repeatedly declared in the context of its accession to the Energy Community, and then the association with the EU). In other words, Moldova needs to go through a similar process of change when it comes to electricity and gas as Poland, but much faster. One of the key elements of such reforms is the introduction of a transparent mechanism for setting the market price for natural gas and electricity. European practice has shown that a very functional and reliable solution in this regard is the exchange. The creation of an energy and gas exchange platform for Moldova would be an important milestone in the country’s comprehensive energy and economic transformation.
Interview by Wojciech Jakóbik
