Old housing stock in Chisinau under active renovation

The Chisinau City Hall’s program to renovate the old apartments by thermally insulating the buildings and erecting attic-like apartments started to produce results, Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said after visiting a number of building sites in Chisinau on Friday, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Initially, the people were skeptical about the utility of this project, but I’m convinced that there will be more demands to rehabilitate the buildings by this method,” said the mayor. Radu Eremciuc, director of the construction company involved in the program, said the firm is allowed to build and sell attic-like apartments. In exchange, it thermally insulates the façade of the building and lays out the adjoining area at its own expense. It also repairs the plumbing free of charge. The process lasts for 5-6 months. Those who want to purchase attic-like apartments can pay in installments. The company offers them home loans repayable in up to 20 years or financing within the municipal program “First House”. The first block visited by the mayor was a dormitory located on Sarmizegetusa St. It has 200 rooms that are about 12 square meters each. Half of the rooms were extended by another 12 square meters by building an annex. The block will be fully repaired and thermally insulated. There will be also an attic. Every family will have its own kitchen, toilet and balcony. The dwellers contribute at most €3,000 per family, said Radu Eremciuc, adding all the dwellers should give their consent to building the annex. The mayor also visited an apartment building located on Traian Blvd. Attic-like apartments are built on its roof. They will be ready in June. The investor will renovate the plumbing, stairs and will arrange the adjacent area at its own expense. The apartments will be also sold within the “First House” program. Seventy projects of the kind are being implemented in the municipality of Chisinau at present.