Chisinau City Hall does not have money to pay difference in thermal energy tariffs

The Chisinau City Hall has over 145 million lei debts towards “Termocom” SA for paying compensations to the population, after the Municipal Council earlier this year committed itself to covering the difference in the increased and former tariffs. At the meeting of the City Hall on July 2, Valentina Vazdautan, interim director of the General Finance Division, said that 185.1 million lei must be allotted from the municipal budget for paying compensations for the thermal energy supplied to the population in January-May 2007. Only 40 million lei of this sum was allocated as the other part does not have financial coverage. On January 25 the Chisinau Municipal Council took the decision to increase the heating charges from 233 lei to 540 lei per gigacalorie. The Council decided then, with the vote of the communist and Christian-democrat councilors, that the population will pay 233 lei per gigacalorie until the next heating season and the difference in tariffs will be covered from the local budget. According to some estimates, the difference would cost the budget about 220 million lei. A number of councilors and representatives of the City Hall said then that the local budget for 2007 does not include and there is no money for covering these expenses. The Opposition councilors described the covering of the difference in tariffs from the local budget as a populist action of the PCRM before the local elections. The overdue credit debts of the Chisinau City Hall on June 1, 2007 totaled about 201 million lei, including the mentioned debts towards “Termocom” SA. According to the General Finance Division, the largest credit debts were accumulated for the reconstruction and extension of Pan Halippa Street – about 14.6 million lei, for the renovation of the Complex “Labor Glory” and of the civil cemetery “Eternity” – about 11.6 million lei, for designing and building protection for the territory adjoining the Golbocica River – about 5.7 million lei, for designing and building the trolley line on Independentei Street in Botanica sector – about 5.4 million lei, for cleaning the districts of the municipality of Chisinau – about 10.7 million lei and for paving the sidewalks – about 3.9 million lei.