Government to raise compensations for coal

Nominative compensations for purchasing a tonne of coal will increase from 500 up to 700 lei for the existing 171,000 beneficiaries. The Government decided to raise the compensation due to the 59% increase in the price of coal. According to the Agency for Material Reserve, Public Procurement and Humanitarian Aid the cheapest coal – GR – costs 1590 lei per tonne. The compensations increase will cost the state budget 50.4 million lei. The Government said that the price of firewood did not increase this year so that no compensation increases are required. This heating season, the Government intends to raise the compensations for the heat provided by Termocom JSC. For the persons who are exempted from 50 % of the heat charge, a compensation of 270,000 lei will be allocated, marking a 158 lei increase. Persons who are exempted from 25% of the cost will benefit from a 135 lei compensation (79 lei increase). For the period between November 1 and March 31, the mentioned increase will involve costs of 26.3 million lei. According to the data provided by Ministry of Finance, the cost of the increase of the compensations quantum will constitute 58.3 million lei. Because many recipients of compensations did not claim them, 13.8 million lei were returned to the National State Social Insurance Fund.