Chisinau consumers disconnected from hot water supply system

Termocom SA stopped supplying hot water to the Chisinau consumers on December 10 and intends to reduce the temperature of heat in radiators in response to the Chisinau Municipal Council’s decision to cancel the charge of 540 lei per gigacalorie, the administrator of Termocom SA Dionisie Antocel announced at a news conference. Antocel did not specify when and to what level the temperature of the heat will be reduced. The Chisinau City Hall will also remain without heat. It was to be cut off from the centralized heating system as from December 10, but the employees of Termocom SA did not have access to the institution’s thermal point, Dionisie Antocel said. According to the cited source, all the institutions financed from the municipal budget will be disconnected as from December 12, except the kindergartens, schools and hospitals. The apartment buildings with large debts will also be cut off. Dionisie Antocel also said that the company resorts to such measures in order to save money and keep the heating system functional. The data provided by Termocom SA show that the company needs about 120 million lei in December to make sure that the heating system functions normally. According to estimates, the payments for the heat supplied in November made by the consumers will total only 50-55 million lei. Dionisie Antocel described the CMC’s decision to restore the old tariff as premeditated, illegal and irresponsible, which endangers the supply of hot water and heat to the consumers. He said that he informed the Government about the created situation. The administrator stated that Termocom SA will submit an application to the CMC in the shortest time, demanding that the decision to decrease the cost of a gigacalorie of heat be cancelled and that the Council come together for an extraordinary meeting. If the given decision is not cancelled, we will dispute it in court, Antocel said. At the same time, Termocom will ask the court to hasten the examination of the dispute with the City Hall so as to get the about 149 million lei owned by the local public administration, which promised to cover the difference between the tariff of 233 lei paid by the population and the new tariff of 540 lei fixed this January. Termocom accuses the City Hall of not working out and not approving the regulations concerning the way of granting nominative compensations. According to Antocel, the heat supplier filed the relevant calculations for the real charge for 2008 to the Council late in November. The charge in 2008 should be 715 lei per gigacalorie. The administrator of Termocom says that the crisis situations related to the fixing of the charge could be avoided, if the charges were approved by the National Agency for Energy Regulation.