The state functionaries forming part of the local public administration Chisinau: representatives of the county head’s offices, mayors and headsmen of the towns and villages that are part of the Chisinau municipality and specialists in public finance management working for the organizations of the municipality will be instructed how to offer assistance in organizing public hearings on budget to communities. At the scientific-practical seminar themed “Involvement of the Civil Society in the Budget Planning Process” on February 13, Tatiana Kunetski, head of the Chisinau Municipal Council’s General Finance Division, said that unlike other consulting procedures the public hearing offers a rigorous and effective framework for gathering a considerable number of opinions and viewpoints from groups of interest for which the topic for discussion is of great importance. That is why, the source says, it is very important that the local authorities organize public hearings on budget-related issues because these provide the local administration representatives with the possibility of listening to and learning about citizens’ opinions before making a final decision on a matter or another. The seminar was organized by the Chisinau City Hall and Soros-Moldova Foundation. The organizers aimed to make the participants define the concept of public hearing on budget-related issues, their role and aim, advantages and disadvantages, and to identify the steps needed to organize and hold successful public hearings.