Chisinau water utility sees 70 million lei profit, on paper only

2010 was a historic year for Apa-Canal Chisinau (ACC) in terms of profit, which amounted to 70 million lei. However it remains on paper only, as the utility will have to spend it to close the gap between the readings of its own meters and those installed in every apartment. This is the leading cause of the company's losses, ACC director Constantin Becciev said. Speaking at the City Hall's ordinary meeting on Monday, Becciev said the situation at the company was difficult because of this problem. The current losses because of the difference in readings stand at 65 million lei. A solution to this would be the installation of effective meters in apartment blocks, said Becciev. Another problem related to financial issues was the inadequate repairs. Of the 50 million lei initially planned to be spent on repairs, only 35 million were eventually spent for this purpose, this being the reason why pipe failure hazards remain high. According to Becciev, apart from these problems, the state of the company was overall good compared with the last six years, when the utility incurred huge losses. The ACC's bill payment rate is 98%.