Diesel shortages reappear at Moldovan gas stations despite government assurances
Fuel stations across Moldova are again reporting shortages of diesel fuel. Despite official government statements claiming that reserves are sufficient, diesel has completely disappeared from sale at some filling stations.
While employees at gas stations say they cannot provide a timeline for new deliveries, officials from the National Agency for Energy Regulation (Moldova) and the Ministry of Energy of Moldova attribute the situation to panic buying and the reluctance of operators to sell fuel at previously established prices.
Energy Minister Dorin Junghietu, after personally inspecting several stations, sought to reassure the public that fuel reserves remain available in storage facilities and that imports — particularly diesel — have even increased. However, he noted that authorities cannot compel station operators to sell fuel if they consider doing so unprofitable.
“If they have retail stocks and refuse to sell them, the regulator has the right to apply penalties,” Junghietu said. “But in the wholesale segment it is their decision. It is unfortunate that some companies resort to such practices.”
The head of the National Agency for Energy Regulation (Moldova), Alexei Taran, offered his own explanation for the shortage. According to him, Moldova has adequate national reserves, but they are unevenly distributed across more than 600 filling stations. When consumers began purchasing fuel in large quantities last week, the volume sold rose several times above the normal daily average — effectively exhausting stocks equivalent to roughly five days of consumption.
Taran also partially blamed farmers for the situation, arguing that many of them chose to buy diesel at retail stations where prices were lower than on the wholesale market.
Rising international fuel prices have also played a role. Traders are importing fuel at higher prices, while some retail networks — wary of selling cheaper existing stock at a loss — have temporarily suspended sales until new deliveries arrive. In other cases, stations simply ran out of diesel after an influx of drivers redirected from nearby outlets that had already closed their pumps.
Regulators have therefore urged both citizens and businesses to avoid creating “artificial demand” and to refrain from excessive stockpiling. For farmers in the middle of the sowing season, however, such advice offers little comfort.
Officials emphasized that the wholesale petroleum products market is not regulated by the state, imports continue daily, and retail prices are updated in line with international market quotations. According to authorities, the disruptions at filling stations are temporary and caused primarily by consumer panic and tactical pauses by certain operators — not by an actual nationwide shortage of fuel.
For now, citizens are being asked to remain calm and wait as global oil prices continue to rise amid tensions linked to the conflict involving Iran, United States, and Israel.
Yet critics argue that within Moldova the blame for the price surge is being placed almost entirely on consumers themselves — accused by officials of creating an unhealthy wave of panic buying.
