The municipal company Apa-Canal Chisinau (ACC) welcomes the bill that empowers the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) to approve the water charges, Info-Prim Neo reports. ACC director Constantin Becciev stated that they have yet an objection to the article saying that before setting the new water charge, the ANRE must coordinate it with the local public administration. According to the water supplier, this point should be removed as two authorities cannot be simultaneously responsible for approving the charge. Now that the power to approve charges was transferred to the ANRE and the political factor was excluded, the negotiations to attract financing from foreign partners for investment purposes will become real and the consumers will feel the improvements in the medium term, said the ACC. Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said the decision to empower the ANRE to approve the water charges is correct, stressing that the local public authorities will anyway be able to analyze the tariff proposals submitted by the water suppliers. He also said that the last adjustment of the heat charge by the ANRE last October is a positive example in this respect. Initially, SA Termocom asked increasing the charge by 16.4%. After the Chisinau City Hall intervened, the requested charge rise was decreased from 16.4% to 9.9% or from 1 045 lei to 987 lei per gigacalorie. The lawmakers on March 30 passed in the first reading a bill whereby the National Agency for Energy Regulation is entrusted with the task of setting the water charges in municipalities, towns and districts. The law will come into force after it is adopted in the final reading and is published in the Official Gazette.