Heating tariff will not be discussed at the December 18 CMC meeting, Eduard Musuc says

The Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) will not consider the heating tariff at its December 18 meeting either. On Tuesday, December 16, the CMC president Eduard Musuc told the reporters that the Council has now another priority – the budget for 2009, Info-Prim Neo reports. Under a memorandum signed by the CMC, Termocom and MoldovaGaz SA on November 11, the Chisinau administration will fix a tariff of 740 lei/Gcal and pay the debts to Termocom so that the heat supplier could settle its debts to the natural gas supplier MoldovaGaz. If these obligations are not fulfilled, MoldovaGaz will have the right to stop the supply of gas, which will lead to a halt in the supply of heat in Chisinau. Two draft decisions on the heating tariff have been submitted to the CMC – one proposed by Termocom SA, which envisions a tariff of up to 842 lei/Gcal, and one signed by the Mayor of Chisinau, which suggests keeping the present tariff of 540 lei/Gcal. Eduard Musuc said that he does not understand the purpose of the draft decision that proposes keeping the present tariff. “We did not include this draft decision in the agenda because we will lose half of the day to discuss it and will not reach a consensus. We must debate and approve the Chisinau budget for 2009 until this yearend. If an appropriate draft decision is proposed, we could anytime include it in the agenda,” Musuc told a news conference on Tuesday. Thursday’s meeting of the CMC will be the fourth since the signing of the memorandum. The CMC president said earlier that the issue of the heating charge was not included in the agenda of the meetings because the executive proposed no relevant draft decision. At the same time, Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca said that the local administration considers the present tariff reasonable and sees no need to approve a new tariff. He submitted yet the draft decision proposed by Termocom to the Council for examination, but did not sign it. Under the regulations concerning the constitution and running of the CMC, the draft decisions are formulated by municipal councilors and the mayor general.