Vladimir Antosii: Termocom SA endangers the country’s steady supply with natural gas

The Chisinau heat supplier Termocom SA paid for only a part of the natural gas consumed in November and this imperils the steady supply of the country with natural gas, Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Vladimir Antosii said at the last meeting of the governmental commission for emergencies. At the same meeting, Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev expressed his concern about the supply of heat in the municipality of Chisinau, describing the situation as an emergency, and asked the municipal public authorities to solve the problems as soon as possible so as the Chisinau residents are provided with high quality services. Recently, Antosii said that the Government did not influence Termocom in its decision to stop supplying hot water and the local administration can appeal to the court if it considers that the City Hall was cut off from the heat supply illegally. At the start of last week, Termocom SA halted the supply of hot water in Chisinau and disconnected the City Hall from the heat supply, warning that it will cut off all the institutions financed from the municipal budget, except the schools, kindergartens and healthcare institutions, if the heating charge of 540 lei is not restored. The local authorise said yet that they will not bow to Termocom’s pressure to restore the cancelled charge of 540 lei per gigacalorie and will not increase the tariff up to 715 lei as the supplier asked lately. They consider that Termocom’s decision to stop supplying hot water and to cut off certain economic agents is illegal and is punishable under the Penal Code. The Chisinau Municipal Council decided to restore the old charge of 233 lei for the reason that the previous decision to increase the tariff up to 540 lei taken this January did not have legal support, while the Government did not allocate the promised subsidies for heat. The decision was also made because the Chisinau administration does not have financial resources to cover the difference in the old and new charges (307 lei per gigacalorie).