By the heating bills for January, the Government will subsidize 80% of the rise in heating prices, Prrime Minister Natalia Gavrilița announced in a news conference, being quoted by IPN.
In November and December, there was subsidized 67% of the rise in prices, while in January there will be subsidized 80% of the rise. The volume covered by subsidies was also increased. In November and December, there was subsided 1 gigacalorie of heat. 1.5 gigacalories will be subsidized in January. As a result, the maximum subsidy provided by the Government for heating will rise from 450 lei to 815 lei a month.
According to Natalia Gavrilița, 210,000 households in Chisinau and Bălți will benefit from subsidies. Only 5% of these households can control the volume of consumed heat. The others cannot make savings.
At the same time, the Government decided to simplify access to cold-month assistance for families in need. The Premier said the system foe assessing the beneficiary’s property is one of the factors that hamper access to this assistance. Owing to this condition, over 20,000 families with small incomes are not entitled to such assistance based on this system. It was decided to remove this criterion for the period of the crisis.
The subsidies for natural gas remained those decided in November. The Government pays half of the gas rate for up to 50 cubic meters of consumed gas and one third for another 100 cubic meters of consumed gas. The users pay the full rate only for the amount consumed above 150 cubic meters of gas. Natalia Gavrilița said there are now no reasons for raising the rate, but it depends on the market price. “Regardless of the developments, the Government will provide targeted solutions,” stated the official.
Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marcel Spatari said that in January the Ministry transferred over 237 million lei for 599,000 families that consume natural gas and 197,000 lei for families that consume heat energy. In December, the transfers came to over 196 million lei for over 590,000 families consuming gas and for 197,000 families consuming heat energy.
