Chisinau has an inefficient system for managing the housing sector. The managers of housing associations do not have sufficient instruments and the necessary training for preventing tragedies like the explosion that occurred in an apartment building in Râșcani district, Ianuș Cușnir, of the Employers Association of Condominium Co-owners Associations, stated in a news conference at IPN.

According to Ianuș Cușnir, Chisinau is the only city in the European area that has four housing sector management forms, namely Homebuilding Cooperatives, Associations of Privatized Dwelling Owners, Municipal Housing Sector Managing Companies and Condominium Co-owners Associations.

The order warning the private individuals and legal entities not to use gas cylinders for household purposes, made by acting mayor of Chisinau Ruslan Codreanu, cannot be implemented because there is no law that would ban this. At the same time, the legislation does not stipulate the conditions in which the managers can enter apartments for checks. Only the regulations of Condominium Co-owners Associations provide that the dweller must ensure the Association manager’s access to the apartment if a notice is issued five days beforehand.

Angela Lazarenko, president of the Sector Professional Development Committee, said the post of condominium manager was not included in the occupational classifier. There is no occupational standard and the managers do not benefit from professional training programs. This is a problem that should be dealt with.

Five persons, among whom a child aged four, died in the October 6 apartment building blast on Moscova Blvd in Chisinau. A gas leak from a gas cylinder is the preventive cause of the explosion. Ten apartments were damaged.