Only 19% of the apartment buildings of Chisinau, which are managed by Condominium Co-owners Associations, are eligible to take part in the thermal insulation project financed by the EBRD and EIB. In the case of the other 81% of blocks, the dwellers must form such associations if they want to benefit from the program. Activists Ianus Cushnir and Sergiu Tofilat spoke about this in a news conference at IPN.
Ianus Cusnir said 10% of the apartment buildings in Chisinau that are managed by Homebuilding Cooperatives are outside the law as the regulations based on which these cooperatives were founded, of 1983, were annulled by a Government decision. All the organizations managing apartment buildings in Chisinau must be transformed into Condominium Co-owners Associations, which is the only legal form. Even if the Law on Condominium was approved in 2000, things in this area move very slowly.
For his part, Sergiu Tofilat noted that Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca violated the law when he signed the financing contract with the European side because he didn’t obtain the approval of the Chisinau Municipal Council, which is mandatory when loans are raised. A number of nongovernmental organizations submitted a petition to the municipality whereby they ask to organize public consultations on the draft lending contract. The Chisinau councilors with whom discussions were held said they are not familiar with the terms of the contract.
The activist, who is also an energy expert, said the centralized heating system in Chisinau is old, while the heat is expensive. Owing to the vertical distribution system, in some of the apartments it is warmer and the people adjust the temperature by opening the windows, while the dwellers from the first floor are cold, but pay almost similar bills. About 40% of the heat is lost owing to the lack of thermal insulation in buildings. The problem can be solved by organizing the horizontal distribution system, by installing an individual heating point. The block must be also insulated thermally, including by replacing the windows and doors.
The civic activists also said that they support the initiative to thermally rehabilitate the buildings, but the Chisinau City Hall should adopt a transparent and responsible attitude to this project.
The project “Energy efficiency and thermal insulation of public buildings in Chisinau municipality” has a budget of €25 million. €20 million represents the loan from the EBRD and EIB, while €5 million is a grant.
