Moldovan cabinet comes up with new measures to support residents

Chisinau, 26 January /MOLDPRES/ - The cabinet of ministers will provide new compensations for the consumption of natural gas. Also, no matter the change of the price, the mechanisms of compensation earlier established will be maintained too. Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita today made statements to this effect at a news conference, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.   

„No matter the decision due to be taken by the National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) on the demand by MoldovaGaz, either it accepts the price proposed by the company, or approves a lower increase of price, the tariff for the first 150 cubic metres consumed will not change for the household consumers. We will keep the mechanism in which the first 50 cubic metres will cost 6.8 lei and the next 100 cubic metres, up to 150, will cost 7.9 lei,’’ Natalia Gavrilita said.    

Moreover, the government will come up with programmes of compensations also for certain economic agents – the cabinet will back the gas consuming enterprises which produce essential goods – bread, milk, other food products and the small and medium-sized companies which consume natural gas. ‘’We take into account also the programmes which might lead to the enhancement of the purchasing power of some categories of employees and vulnerable families,’’ the prime minister also said.    

At the same time, Natalia Gavrilita noted that the energy security and efficiency must become a priority for companies, central and local authorities, projects. ‘’We approved at the government major investments on behalf of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the thermal insulation of public buildings, especially hospitals. We will prioritize also other energy efficiency projects, including locally. By enforcing energy efficiency measures, almost each house, each public institution from Moldova can reduce the heating losses by 70-80 per cent,’’ the PM stressed.    

In another context, the prime minister referred to unjustified increases in priced on market, dictated by monopolies or cartel agreements. Thus, in some cases, the prices for the same product sold at agricultural markets differ much from the ones in networks of shops. In the context, the PM asked the Economics Ministry and Finance Ministry to urgently consider the possibility to extend the list of products of social importance for which the trade markup is limited.

„I want to make clear: not the government and not the parliament increase the prices. On the contrary, the government does its utmost to protect the citizens from price increases. And we undertake measures, for this crisis to hit the citizens to a lower extend. The government will further be by the side of the people and will not allow a small group of interests to sabotage our efforts,’’ Natalia Gavrilita said.   

Photo: Government