'One budget lost, one budget saved'

Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca says that in the last two years the city lost one budget “because of the communist government”, and economized another one, by implementing “important reforms”, Info-Prim Neo reports. “2009 was eventful, we had hard and good times alike”, stated Chirtoaca in his year-end address today. “Though we experienced a difficult financial crisis, we managed to achieve the set objectives. In 2009 we avoided a budget gap, on the contrary, the earned revenues will allow us to give teachers a 20 percent raise”, promised the mayor. The mayor blamed the scarce municipal revenues in the years 2008-2009 on the decision of the communist government to introduce a zero tax rate on corporate income, which starved the city's coffers of over 500 million lei annually. The city was also deprived of annual subsidies of 300 million lei from the Ministry of Finance. To compare, the municipality of Balti, with 200,000 inhabitants, received this year 180 million lei in government subsidies, while the capital, with almost one million people, didn't receive anything. However, the mayor is proud that in 2009 his administration managed to carry out a few reforms that helped to save nearly one billion lei. “In 2008 Termocom (the city's heat supplier) forcefully took from the municipal budget about 600 million lei, which we can easily call unjustly lost income”, says Dorin Chirtoaca. “The introduction of compensations for socially vulnerable persons cost this monopoly only 25 to 30 million lei”. “The adjustment of water rates and public transport fares to their real cost made it possible to stop subsidizing the (water utility) Apa-Canal Chisinau and the Bus Company, which cost nearly 300 million lei annually to maintain”. Chirtoaca added that the mayoral administration also managed to extend the number of recipients of compensations for heat and public transport. In 2009, the City Hall attracted 9 investment projects valued at 3 million lei, 2 million of which will be invested in the city, the mayor added.