December DIGEST. Most important news articles of IPN "Chișinău” news flow
December 2: Football fields at seven schools in Chisinau will be rehabilitated by the municipality, with the work expected to be completed by the end of this year. Rehabilitation is already underway at the lyceums Universul, Alexandru-Ioan Cuza, Olimp and Petru Zadnipru. The lyceums George Meniuc, Dante Alighieri and Aleksandr Pushkin will follow soon.
December 3: To mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, the Chisinau City Hall and the Mihai Eminescu National Theater are offering a free play for 300 people with disabilities. This will be the comedy “Take, Yanke and Kadyr” by V.I. Popa. Mariana Buga, deputy head of the municipal Health and Social Assistance Directorate, said that today’s event is one of the many organized by the City Hall for people with disabilities. Later this month, district head offices will partner up with local businesses to provide food and personal care packages.
December 5: In the kindergartens and schools of the municipality of Chisinau, performances can he staged as the state of public health emergency was lifted. However, given the large number of viral infections, the educational institutions are urged to obey all the hygiene norms, deputy mayor Ilie Ceban stated in the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services and divisions. The deputy mayor reminded that the kindergarten children this year will receive presents from the municipality. “The gifts were provided by the Chisinau City Hall. We should avoid situations when someone tries to collect money for this or will inform parents that they need to pay for these presents,” warned Ilie Ceban. According to him, the presents will be provided to preschoolers during performances at kindergartens, while those who will be absent then will receive the gifts later.
December 6: As the previous years, a number of trolleybuses and buses in Chisinau will be decorated with lights. Also, the tourist trolleybus will travel around the city with Santa Claus as a guide. The children will enjoy sweet surprises. “The preparations for inaugurating the Christmas Fair and the Christmas tree are underway. All the districts of Chisinau are being adorned. The events that will be staged on the occasion of the winter holidays, the fair and the decorations set up in the city will be launched as soon as we are ready,” said mayor Ion Ceban.
December 12: The local authorities of Chisinau are considering the possibility of supporting the families that face difficulties in conceiving a child. It is proposed covering the cost of 100 in vitro fertilization procedures, including of medicines and related examinations, the chief health officer of Chisinau Boris Gîlca announced in the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services and divisions. “In this case, the municipality of Chisinau comes to support the national program. We know that the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Company finance 60 IVF procedures in the country each year. We consider this is not enough. Financing there is partial and represents practically half of the cost of an in vitro fertilization procedure. The other half, which goes mostly on expensive medicines, is covered by these families that are in difficulty,” stated Boris Gîlca.
December 13: The Chisinau City Hall today voted to open a daycare center for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), called ADIR. ADIR will be a public facility that will take care of 25 adult ASD patients at a time, being the first of its kind to appear in Chisinau. The center will report to the Directorate for Health Care and Social Assistance.
December 14: Vending machines will be placed in public health facilities in the municipality of Chisinau. These will distribute goods and accessories for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and of sexually transmitted diseases. A draft decision to this effect was approved by the Chisinau Municipal Council. The machines will be installed in family doctors centers in Chisinau and at the Municipal Clinical Ftiziopneumology Hospital. In the Council’s meeting, Marina Buga, deputy head of the General Medical and Social Assistance Division, said the decision was drafted to meet the Municipal Program for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases for 2022-2025.
December 15: Two tourist trolleybuses of the special route “Get to know the city alongside Santa Claus” will travel via Chisinau for four times a day, starting with December 17. These will set off from the Triumphal Arch where it will also the terminus. Children and parents are expected to discover the legends of the city during December 17-18 and 24-25 and during January 7-8. The trips will be conducted in Romania at 10am and twelve noon and in Russian at 2pm and 4pm. According to the Chisinau City Hall, all the children will receive sweet presents from Santa Claus.
December 16: The best sportspersons and coaches of the municipality of Chisinau were offered diplomas of merit and money awards for accomplishments at international competitions in 2022. The award ceremony was held as part of the cultural-sports event “Gala of Sports Stars 2022” that was staged by the Chisinau City Hall and the General Division of Education, Youth and Sport. The best young athletes of the year are: Vasile Diacon, freestyle wrestling; Mihai Chihai, kayak canoe; Ana Dulce, judo; Alin Bagrin, judo, and Alexandrin Guțu, Greco-Roman wrestling. Oxana Diacenco, judo, and Radu Lefter, freestyle wrestling, became the “Revelations of 2022”. The best athletes in non-Olympic events of 2022 are: Vladislav Untu, dancesport; Polina Baryshnikova, dancesport, and Sergiu Mîrzenco, triathlon. Oleg Crețu, judo Paralympic champion, and one of the best para-arm-wrestler of the world Vladimir Butucea, were named “Paralympic Sportspersons of 2022”. The best athletes of the year were: Irina Rângaci, women’s wrestling; Denis Vieru, judo; Daniela Cociu, kayak canoe; Maria Olarașu, canoe sprint; Constantin Malachi, swimming; Alexandru Paraskiv, boxing; Anna Matus, dancesport, and Daniel Procopciuc, arm-wrestling.
December 16: The first smart traffic lights were put into operation in Chisinau. The devices assess the number of motor vehicles at an intersection and determine independently the wavelength on lanes so as to reduce traffic congestion, mayor general Ion Ceban posted on social media. The Dacia Blvd – Băcioii Noi St intersection is the first one in the municipality of Chisinau where the traffic lights were replaced with smart ones. According to the mayor, this is the most dangerous intersection in the municipality, where 70% of the road accidents are fatal ones, as the police said.
December 19: The Christmas Fair set up in the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau can be visited until January 15, between 10am and 10pm. This way, the residents and guests of the capital city can visit the stands of national producers, while the children can amuse themselves at carousels there. The people can also visit Santa Claus in his little house, where children will receive presents on the weekend. Free pictures can be taken in special areas. In the ordinary meeting of officials of municipal services and subdivisions, mayor Ion Ceban said that “Romanița” ensemble will hold a concert in the central square of Chisinau on December 24, starting at 6pm. More areas will be yet set up for visitors. Vendors at cabins sell traditional handmade items, thematic souvenirs, toys, balloons and also food products and drinks. The children can travel by little trains and take part in other recreational activities.
December 19: More than 5 million lei will be transferred to the budget of Chisinau as a result of the allocation of 14 lots on which to place ambulatory trading units in the municipality at the 18th open tender contest of the kind held on Monday. Thirteen of the 30 exhibited lots for different type of kiosks were excluded due to the absence of bids, while three lots were excluded by the bids assessment commission because the presented documents weren’t compliant.
December 20: The building of parking garages in the most crowded parts of Chisinau is the most efficient solution to the shortage of parking places in the capital city. Such an opinion is shared by 52% of the respondents of a poll. In the case of yards of old blocks, over half of those surveyed said they would like free spaces to be identified outside yards for putting up pay or free parking lots there. Almost one fourth of those polled consider parking places are needed at bus terminals and on the periphery of the capital city. The survey was initiated by the municipality to find out what the residents think about the key proposals of the strategy for the sustainable socioeconomic and spatial development of the municipality of Chisinau.
December 21: About 10,000 tonnes of antiskid mixture were spread last year on the streets of Chisinau by the municipal road maintenance enterprise Exdrupo. 3,500 tonnes remained and another 5,000 tonnes of salt and 6,000 tonnes of sand have been purchased. The local authorities said they are ready to cope with snowfalls and glazed frost. The first test was passed at the start of December. Besides equipment, two minibuses for transporting workers of Exdrupo were bought. So far these were transported by trucks purchased in the 1980s. “We value these workers who are daily in the service of the citizens of the municipality of Chisinau,” stated Ilie Ceban.
December 23: A number of 41 modular platforms for gathering municipal waste became available in the districts of Chisinau. The General Housing and Amenities Division said the platforms are made of metal and are covered with aluminum composite panels on the outside. The words “recyclable waste” and “biodegradable waste” were printed on the top of the frame. There are three types of platforms – consisting of two, three and four containers. The given platforms are intended for approximately 60 apartment buildings in all the districts of Chisinau. The company that performed the works was chosen at a tender contest in accordance with the law. Over 4.3 million lei was spent on the purchase and installation of these platforms.
December 24: A community day care center intended for older persons was officially opened in Budești commune of Chisinau municipality. The institution is the place where older people can receive free social, psychological and legal assistance. The center will host meetings between generations and an exchange of experience with young people. The institution also has a hall where older people will be able to use a computer. Ten notebooks were donated to the center by the National Alliance of YMCA Moldova, which is a partner of the Chisinau City Hall. The Chisinau City Hall’s financial support for this project came to 1.9 million lei.
December 26: The municipality of Chisinau purchased 500 tonnes of cold weather concrete for stopping up holes on streets of the capital city, primarily those that are used by public transport. The cold weather concreting works were initiated last week and are carried out by the road maintenance company “Exdrupo”. The use of suppressed asphaltic concrete is another method applied by the company to maintain roads in winter. Last week, “Exdrupo” carried out works to replace the curbs and spread gravel on the streets Braniștii and Ion Neculce. The pluvial drainage system there was rehabilitated, while 121 road signs were renovated or replaced.
December 28: The 2023 draft budget of the municipality of Chisinau was approved after being given a final reading. The revenues will total 6.8 billion lei, together with the 3.7 billion lei in transfers from the state budget, while the expenditure will be 7.3 billion lei, with a deficit of 547 million lei. The largest part of the municipal budget expenditure will go on education – 3.9 billion lei. A sum of 3 billion lei will be spent on public transport and road management and on public amenities, including on repairing buses and trolleybuses running on routes and public transport stations, while 622 million lei will be used for social protection. The municipal reserve fund was set at 10 million lei.
December 29: The Public Transport and Communications Division of Chisinau next year will be called the General Urban Mobility Division and the quality of its services will grow. It will be able to initiate more development projects and to increase the personnel units, the Division’s head Vitalie Mihalache stated. According to him, the reorganization decision was generated by the increase in the workload and the appearance of more areas of responsibility. New units responsible for parking and traffic monitoring were created as part of the General Division. The units responsible for municipal works and finances were optimized.
December 31: A series of projects to improve the appearance of the capital city were implemented in the course of 2022. There was installed modern recreational equipment. The General Housing and Amenities Division built playgrounds and fitness grounds in square and parks of Chisinau and some of these are intended also for persons with disabilities. Irina Boțu, who is in charge of communication at the General Housing and Amenities Division, said that despite the faced challenges, the Division in 2022 managed to implement the projects needed by the citizens of Chisinau. The 2023 budget was already approved and this contains many other important initiatives. The Division will continue building playgrounds and sports grounds, repairing yards of apartment buildings and implementing other necessary projects.
