Heat price went up nearly 2.5-fold in Chisinau

The Chisinau Municipal Council approved on Thursday, January 25, by majority of votes, the increase in the price of heat from 233 to 540 lei per one G-calorie. The new tariffs will come into effect as from February 1 this year. At the same time, CMC has decided that consumers will pay 233 lei for heat until the next heating season, while the difference of tariff to be covered by the local budget. According to preliminary estimates, this difference stands at about 220 mln lei. The concrete financial resources from the local budget have not been identified yet. A number of members and representatives of the City Hall stated that funds intended for covering these expenses were not anticipated in the local budget for 2007. It rests with the general finance Division to find these financial sources. Earlier, local authorities stated they will ask for Government’s assistance in covering half of the difference of tariff, but, according to statements during the sitting, such a request was not made. As head of the Social Alliance Bloc Mihai Roscovan says, the Government stated that it does not have the 100 mln lei to cover this difference. Roscovan claims that the subsidy of the difference of tariff from the local budget is a populist action of the Communist Party before the elections. According to the communists’ scenario, until the elections the population will not pay the increased tariffs, but after the polls they will be recalculated to pay the 540 lei, because the local budget will not be able to cover such expenses. Leader of communist faction Svetlana Popa asserted that the subsidy of tariffs from the local budget is not a populist action of the communists, but “a perfect one which backs the concept of social policy that the government party promotes”. Previously, local authorities stated that this year individuals would not pay for consumption according to the new tariffs, as a methodology to pay the compensations for the socially underprivileged people is not elaborated yet. Such a methodology is to be worked out this year.