The draft budget of the municipality of Chisinau will be presented after consultations on the local taxes. According to mayor general Ion Ceban, the local taxes for Chisinau municipality will be considered by January 12, IPN reports.
The mayor noted that he had seen several vehement statements made by opponents, criticism and manipulation. Such reactions come from those who are in power, who have not even consulted the state budget in the last three years and voted for it at the speed of light nominally. “This is complete simulation of important processes in the state”.
He also said that with the small funds available to the capital city, they manage to change the city. The municipality of Chisinau contributes 23 billion lei to the state budget and receives back 2.8 billion lei or about 13%. During the pandemic crisis, the refugee crisis, they received practically nothing and executed the decisions of the National Commission for Emergency Situations. “You don’t have to give us anything extra. Leave us what belongs to Chisinau, 23 billion on accounts, and we are going to make a city similar to Vienna during at most 10 years,” said Ion Ceban.
At the end of December, Veaceslav Ionita, an expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul”, said that the municipal budget has not been yet approved because a coalition could not be formed on the Chisinau Municipal Council and a broader consensus could not be reached. The expert believes that the 2024 budget must be a budget of a broad political consensus focused on investments, covered by new sources of revenue. Veaceslav Ionita said that the central authorities marginalize Chisinau in terms of investments. Practically all money from the central level for investments at the local level goes to localities in the country, except for Chisinau, which makes investments from savings, sale of certain goods and loans.
Zinaida Popa, head of the PAS group on the CMC, accused mayor Ion Ceban of delaying the presentation of the budget to the municipal council. “The municipal budget is what is actually important for the residents of Chisinau as the municipal budget is that business card or document that shows us what we will do in 2024. As far as we can see, Ion Ceban and his party do not want to assume a budget,” stated Zinaida Popa. She requested that next year’s draft municipal budget should be published and subject to public debates or the PAS will come up with an alternative budget.
