Water, sewer rates could rise

The Chisinau City Council (CMC) will consider raising water and sewer charges at the next meeting. The local councillors are also expected to consider nominative compensations for certain categories of population in case of water price hikes. Councillor Oleg Cernei, president of the committee on assessing the situation of Apa-Canal – Chisinau’s main water supplier – says the company’s financial situation is very unstable, which can lead at any moment to failures in the water distribution system. In addition, creditors could block the company’s accounts for overdue debts. Furthermore, because of the old piping system and lack of investment for its replacement, pipe ruptures and failures are expected to considerably increase in number in the following period. The committee on assessing the situation of Apa-Canal recommends increasing the water and sewer rates for household consumers from 3.67 lei to 5.07 lei, for legal entities – from 14.9 lei to 20.14 lei. The proposed average rate is 8.42 lei/m3, in contrast to what the National Agency for Energy Regulation considered as being the actual value of a cubic metre – 9.71 lei/m3. Water and sewer bills for Chisinau householders will rise progressively over a certain period of time, Oleg Cernei said. Councillor Mihai Severovan stood for a basic water rate for all the consumers: 6.85 lei/m3 for tap water and 2.93 lei/m3 for sewer. The accounts payable of Apa-Canal are estimated at 270 million lei, including 147 million lei owed to BERD. Accounts receivable amount to about 300 million lei, the housing sector accounting for 160 million of them.