Chisinau councilor criticizes Economy Minister for 'promoting corporate interests'

19.10.2010 09:53
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Chisinau city councilor Oleg Cernei, the head of the municipal division responsible for utilities and public amenities, has criticized a legislative initiative submitted by the Ministry of Economy proposing an increase in the fee paid by dwellers who use separate heating units in replacement to heat supplied in a centralized way, Info-Prim Neo reports. Oleg Cernei told a news conference on Monday that the proposal was an attempt by Economy Minister Valeriu Lazar and CET-Nord director Petru Axentie, both Democratic Party members, to “promote the corporate interests” of the heat utilities, including CET-Nord. “I've inquired about why Minister Lazar is so insistent about this initiative and what CET-Nord has to do with it. So I've found out that CET-Nord director Petru Axentie was recently appointed leader of the Democratic Party in Balti municipality, and I guess that Mr. Lazar is promoting the corporate interests of this utility and also certain political interests to the disadvantage of the consumers”, said Oleg Cernei. According to the city councilor, the task force that developed the proposal didn't include any representatives of local authorities. “As long as this proposal remains on the Government's agenda, I think there is someone lobbying it, namely CET-Nord and Termocom. And the Prime Minister should be correctly and objectively informed of what this proposal is really all about”, said. Valeriu Lazar could not be found in time to comment on the accusations. The Ministry's proposal is to increase the fee paid by users of separate heating units from 5% to 20% of the rate paid by the apartment owners who receive warmth in a centralized way. The stated reason is that the jointly used areas of the apartment buildings, like staircases and basements, represent 22.6% of the total area, so the costs of warming them should be covered by all the residents. There are over 200,000 apartments in Chisinau and more than 10 percent of them were cut off from the district heating systems. In Balti, they represent one third out of 33,000 apartments.