More than two thirds of the charge for heat are spent to purchase heat from thermal plants, says “Termocom” JSC. The heat supplier held a news conference on February 26, in retort to accusations uttered by mass-media and a number of municipal councillors regarding the “obscurity” of the heat charge. “Termocom” representatives claim that 70 percent of the MDL 540 price of one GCal are spent to purchase thermal energy from heating plants. The remainder is spent to cover transportation, wages (7%), amortisation (6%), electricity bills (4%), etc. Termocom Manager Dionisie Antocel says the enterprise is buying heat at a greater price than approved by the Municipal Council, because recently NAER increased delivery costs. For instance, the CET-1 heating plant bills MDL 284 for a giga-calorie, but the enterprise is actually buying it for MDL 322, says Antocel. Similarly, CET-2 is selling a GCal for MDL 241, while the charge approved by the Council was set at MDL 211. The losses occurring from this, and also because of the gas price hike, amount to MDL 58 million, Antocel said. The charge also embodies the 25 percent network losses. According to Antocel, “Termocom is not minting it, and if the heat supplier and the municipality would cooperate to find MDL 2.6 bln in order to repair the pipes, the losses would be up to 8% down.” Termocom affirms that the price of a GCal would have been 40% bigger that the one approved, had it not been for the enterprise that undertook measures to diminish losses. The 25 percent reduction in the staff is an example. About 30 percent of the thermal energy delivered to Chisinau residents is produced by Termocom.