City Council apportions 7.2m lei to finalise construction of apartment house for Transnistrian refugees

The Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) decided to allocate 7.2 million lei to finalise the construction of a residential block for the internally displaced persons from Transnistria. The municipal functionaries informed the Council that the project requires more funds than initially planned. In particular, they will go to cover expenses for installing autonomous heating systems and thermopane windows in every apartment. The councillors didn’t spend much time discussing the issue, yet they said they will no longer approve higher expenditures than initially planned. The works for the 80-apartment building started in 2005 with financial coverage from the national and city coffers. The cost of the project amounts to 33 million lei. Although last month the Government said that 3 million were needed to finalise the building, and pledged to cover half of the sum, the municipality has recently announced a triple amount – 9.2 million. A group from the Transnistrian Refugees’ Movement has recently moved in the unfinished building, fearing that someone might illegally take possession of the apartments. The Transnistrian Refugees’ Movement was authorised to picket the City Hall and CMC building on the day the city authorities were to decide the allocation of funds, but eventually changed their mind.