Fewer than 1,000 apartments in the municipality of Chisinau haven’t been yet privatized. Contacted by IPN, the deputy head of the General Housing and Amenities Division Gennady Dubița said the privatization process continues. The dwellings that will not be privatized by May 31, 2024 will become social ones and will be transferred under the ownership of the local public authorities. Contracts for the rental of social homes will be signed with the inhabitants of these apartments.

“Currently, the non-privatized apartments have the status of public property that can be privatized. The time limit for privatizing these expires on May 31, 2024 and these apartments after this deadline will become social homes that cannot be privatized and will become the property of the local authorities. Later, these apartments will be leased out to persons under lease agreements for a period of five years. When this period expires, the contract can be extended, if the applicant meets the conditions. If this does not, the dwelling is freed and a contract is signed with another person who needs social housing,” stated Gennady Dubița.

The bill to extend the time limit for privatizing apartments was adopted in 2021. According to the authorities, the decision to extend this was taken at the request of citizens who had the right to acquire the apartments, but could not do it by May 31, 2021, as the previous law provided, for different reasons.