The methodology for calculating heating distribution costs, in effect since October 2022, has “proved to be ineffective and even unconstitutional”, as it fails to observe a Constitutional Court ruling of March 2022, which cancelled the requirement for domestic consumers disconnected from the centralized heating system to pay transit costs. This was stated by Iurie Serafimovici, energy engineer and also a member of the Balti City Council during a press conference on Tuesday.
Serafimovici mentioned that in its notification to the Government and Parliament, the Constitutional Court explicitly indicated that all the findings of the ruling must be taken into account in developing a new methodology. “Absolutely nothing was considered. Because of this, I personally consider this methodology illegal and unconstitutional. It is used as an excuse by suppliers who say that they have the methodology signed by the minister, ignoring a series of existing laws”, stated Iurie Serafimovici.
According to him, when the first bills came in, he made the calculations and told the supplier he disagreed with what the bills showed. And this is because the methodology fails to include the energy produced by the autonomous source in the apartment in its formulas. “They didn’t do these calculations. I had to do them myself and show them”, explained the engineer.
Because he didn’t get any response from the supplier, Iurie Serafimovici went to court, but the district court did not rule in his favor. According to him, they all cite the methodology, even if “some constitutional provisions are violated”. In particular, the Constitutional Court ruling of March 2022 mentioned six different circumstances. “One of them is that an apartment can be located at the end of the block, on the ground floor, in another there are no transit pipes, another is equipped with an autonomous heating source and then indirect heat is a notion that must be demonstrated. Nothing proves it. However, one and the same calculation is applied to everyone”, said the engineer.
“Spînu’s notorious methodology shocked Moldovans in late October of last year (…) A methodology that calculates the distribution of heat in multi-storied buildings in Bălți and Chisinau, it has been proven to be against the ordinary citizen”, Arina Spătaru told the press conference.
“First of all, the people whose apartments are disconnected from the central heating system have suffered enormously due to this methodology. Today we sound the alarm and urge the energy minister to pay attention to several ambiguities and irregularities in methodology no. 2, so that in the fall of 2023 we ensure that any leu coming into the bill of the residents of Balti and Chisinau is calculated objectively and transparently”, added Arina Spătaru.
