Over 705,000 families are eligible for heat and electricity compensations for January. For the next two months, February and March, families registered in the "Meter Assistance" program will obtain only compensation for heat in the form of monetary payment. The compensation for electricity, which will be granted to all citizens from the EU grant, will be paid directly on the bill, IPN reports.

In a press conference, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Buzu said that the 705,000 households eligible for compensations for January consist of almost 1.5 million people. 20,000 households are applicants that newly registered on the platform compensatii.gov.md.

The compensations for January were already transferred to applicants' bank cards, and those who do not have a card can pick up the payments at post offices.

The minister said that the amount transferred for January is higher compared to December as that payment includes two compensations – one for heat and one for electricity. On average, the payment is 1,000 lei.

Starting next month, the Government, with the support of the European Union, will cover the increase in the electricity charge for all consumers, regardless of whether they are enrolled in the "Meter Assistance" program or not, for the first 110 KWh of the consumed power. This means that the bills for February which will come in March will be lower.

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection’s data, since the launch of the compensation program in 2022, almost 900,000 households have benefited from energy compensations, which considerably reduced their energy vulnerability.