Chisinau City Hall has debts of 77m lei

The Chisinau City Hall over the first four months of this year accumulated debts of 77 million lei. The head of the municipal Finance Division Veronica Herta said that there is only 8.5 million lei left in the Chisinau administration's accounts, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We haven't experienced such a deficit for a long time. It is not normal as we cannot complete the initiated modernization and optimization reforms. During the last few years, we did not have current debts. Such a situation is due to the lack of concordance between the budgetary forecasts and the modification of the rules of the game during the game,” said Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca. Veronica Herta said the Ministry of Finance suggested that the Chisinau administration should reduce the amounts allocated to suburbs if the budget is tight. “We have to choose between reducing the amounts transferred to the suburbs and abandoning the capital investment plans. We should also make a correlation between the budgets of the subdivisions,” she stated. By April 21, when the Chisinau Municipal Council will hold a new meeting, the municipal subdivisions must decide what sums they can do without. As to the amounts transferred to the suburbs, Dorin Chirtoaca said that they will remain at the level of 93 million lei, plus the investments that will be made within projects. “We had deficits of 300 million and even 500 million lei, but overcame the difficulties. We will cope again, but it is worrisome that we are again in such a situation,” said Dorin Chirtoaca. The 2011 budget of Chisinau municipality provides for revenues of 1.889 billion lei and an expenditure of 2.310 billion lei. Of the debts of 77 million lei, 42 million lei is owed to the heat supplier SA Termocom, while 3.8 million lei to the water supplier Apa-Canal Chisinau.