Chisinau residents risk remaining without drinking water as from September 3

The inhabitants of the capital city run the risk of remaining without drinking water as of September 3 as the water supplier “Apa-Canal Chisinau” SA cannot settle its current payments to the power supplier Union Fenosa. Constantin Becciev, head of “Apa-Canal Chisinau” (ACC), says that Union Fenosa could start disconnecting the pumping stations without written warning after the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) approved new regulations concerning the payment of electricity bills. Under the regulations, the electricity bills must be paid within ten days of the deadline indicated in the invoice. The en masse disconnection of the pumping stations, Becciev says, is predictable given that during the past two years the power supplier disconnected the pumping stations twelve times following the non-payment of debts. Becciev also says that the company cannot settle the invoice for the consumed electric power because the water charges do not cover its real expenses. According to him, when the former Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) approved the full rise in charges for “Termocom” SA this January, the water charges were raised in proportion of only 13% of the real tariff calculated by ANRE. “We were told not to politicize the situation before the local elections and were assured that part of the financial resources that will come to Termocom will be redistributed to ACC before the elections, given that the thermo-energy complex has debts of about 100 mln lei to the water supplier,” Becciev said. According to him, the payment of the historical debts to Apa-Canal Chisinau would have helped overcome the precarious financial situation of the enterprise. Meanwhile yet, the local authorities and the management of the Chisinau thermo-energy companies, especially the thermoelectric plants (CETs), did not keep their promise and did not pay at least a part of the debts to ACC. Pavel Caba, councilor on behalf of the Moldova Noastra Alliance, says that Chisinau will not remain without water because the local authorities will take all the necessary measures to prevent such a situation. At the same time, he says that CMC will have yet to adjust the expenses to the water charges, but so as to avoid protests from the economic entities and population, including by using a mechanism for protecting the deprived ones. Alexadru Tanase, councilman of the Democratic Party’s faction, said that the current CMC is forced to pay the invoice for the populism promoted in the capital during the last seven years. According to him, no normal country witnesses such situations when the tariffs have not been modified for seven years. Tanase said that now CMC should take a decision of principle to adjust the water charges and not try to win popularity for the election campaign of 2009, meaning to give gratis water both to the persons that have luxurious houses with large swimming pools and to those that struggle to make ends meet. The Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said that along with the increase in water charges, there should be settled such problems as the water leaks, the quick intervention of the specialized squads, the difference in volume, including the metering of water, so that no such problems exist when the tariffs are increased. The municipal councilors set up a special commission that will examine the situation of ACC during ten days and will propose solutions. The commission will also consider the possibility of ACC levying the 100 mln lei debt from the thermo-energy companies and of suing the main debtors.