Chisinau administration takes out loan from EBRD to purchase trolleybuses

The local authorities of Chisinau will buy at least 90 new trolleybuses in the second half of this year, Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca said at Monday's meeting of the City Hall, Info-Prim Neo reports. The mayor said last week they held discussions with representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and agreed that the Bank will provide €13 million to the capital city. “€3 million represents a grant offered by the EBRD, while €10 million – a loan. It will be the largest acquisition of trolleybuses in the last 20-30 years. The vehicles will be bought by a transparent tender contest,” Dorin Chirtoaca said. According to him, the deadline for the submission of bids will be September 1. At the same time, Dorin Chirtoaca expressed his concern about the situation of the Chisinau Electric Transport Company whose accounts were sequestrated over a historical debt of 15 million lei. Several days ago, over 2 million lei was withdrawn from the accounts and is to be transferred to the company Electroplus. The mayor asked the company to follow this money. Vasile Puiu, deputy head of the Chisinau Electric Transport Company, said a trial on the unblocking of the accounts was to take place at the Supreme Court of Justice on May 6, but was postponed to June 10. The daily collections are now used to pay for the electric power and a part of the salaries. According to the head of the City Hall's Legal Division Diana Gurschi, the Prosecutor General's Office postpones the examination of the case concerning the claimed debt of 15 million lei and does not take into account the conclusions of the Audit Office, which carried out four inspections at the Electric Transport Company during eight years and did not establish that it had debts to Electroplus.