Chisinau Municipality to pay for some dwellers' heating

The Chisinau households whose global income does not exceed the minimum subsistence level (some 1,300 lei) and whose dwelling area does not exceed 18 sq/m. for each family member will not pay for heating. The expenses will be covered by the municipality, on the basis of a regulation approved by the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) on Thursday, September 25, Info-Prim Neo reports. The regulation provides for allocating nominal compensations and is to change the present heat compensation mechanism. The families whose income does not reach up the level of the existence minimum, but have a dwelling area larger than the one provided in the regulation, will pay for the other square meters the charge of 540 lei/Gcal. The initial version of the draft regulation provided that the municipality was cover 40% of the heating charges for beneficiaries of compensations. Following the proposal of the Communist faction leader, Svetlana Popa, the payments will be compensated fully. The decision was adopted with the votes of the factions of PCRM, PPCD, PSD, PUM, PLDM. “By those 40% initially proposed we compensate 100% of the expenses of Termocom (heat supplier) related to shipping the thermal agent (hot water). Now we are going to cover up for what the power plants spend unjustly,” Chisinau mayor Dorin Chirtoaca said. “As the City Hall cannot cover all its debts to Termocom when it compensates 67% of the payments of all the consumers, it's absurd to be able to talk about integral compensations,” Chirtoaca says. After the proposal of a Social-Democrat council, with 27 votes of PPCD, PCRM, PSD and PUM, the CMC voted to allocate over 180 million lei to compensate the heating charges. The members of the other factions called the vote “an attempt top bring the local executive entity to insolvency.” After the vote, Dorin Chirtoaca's insistence to revise the modifications were not heard. “If we modify key-points of the regulation, then we mock at citizens and at the work of the people having drafted it. Transforming this regulation into battle strategy between PCRM,PPCD, PUM, PSD, on the one side and the factions of PL, AMN, PLDM on the other side will lead to severe consequences. Allocating a sum of money which doesn't exist will lead to blocking the enforcement of the decision,” the general mayor added. The applicants for compensations should apply at district offices, also presenting the families global income, the number of family members, and other due documents.