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The Mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, requested the support of the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, in the conditions in which, due to the debts of 3 billion lei, the accounts of the City Council are blocked and investments cannot be made.
Among the investments blocked by this situation, Nicușor Dan mentioned the expansion works of Prelungirea Ghencea or those of the Glina station.
Nicușor Dan had a meeting on Tuesday with the Minister of Finance, whom he asked to allow the City Council to increase debt, so that investments can be made, reports Agerpres.
“We found current debts of 3 billion lei. That is three-quarters of a year’s budget. We had the permission of the Ministry of Finance, which compensated us on time (for thermal energy – no.) 300 million lei. We have the permission from the vast majority of creditors, who staggered our payments. Our accounts are still blocked for investments. (…) We visited the Minister of Finance and the way we would like to solve this situation, which is a stalemate, is to assume to in 2021 than from the money we receive from the national budget and from the money we receive we collect from various taxes to cover operating expenses and current debts. With the consent of the Ministry of Finance, we raise the level of indebtedness. We have a great advantage, that we are less in debt medium and long term compared to western cities. Then we can borrow, if the Ministry of Finance allows it. Minister Alexandru Nazare m And he said to make written requests for the ministry departments to give a point of view, ”Mayor Nicusor Dan stated Tuesday night on B1 TV.
The mayor declared that the amount for which the investment accounts are blocked is 40 million lei.
“40 million lei is not such a big amount at the level of Bucharest’s budget. We receive around 260-280 million lei from the government, every month, of which we give 60 million lei for public transport, we give 60 million lei for termites, we give 70 million lei for salaries, we give around 40 million lei for social assistance that we assume we would pay, there are other expenses and we don’t have much left, ”explained Nicuşor Dan.
ELCEN has emerged from insolvency
The mayor of the capital also told B1TV that ELCEN is no longer bankrupt, so it can access European funds to have new plants “They are much more energy efficient and they don’t have the inertia that power plants have now.”
Meanwhile, a € 300 million contract has been signed to replace 200 kilometers (out of 1,000 km) of the main district heating network. The works will be carried out in such a way that traffic is affected as little as possible, although this is inevitable, the mayor said.
Nicușor Dan also explained why central heating is preferable to apartment or neighborhood heating systems: “The central heating system is the only viable system, right now, with all its problems. Because it is about energy efficiency and pollution. Many people who have apartment plants pollute much, much more than a CET on the outskirts of the city and it is also an operational problem. Even if we all wanted to switch to power plants now, it would not be Distrigaz’s logistical capacity to expand the grids to connect. They said it would take 10 years. So another option is excluded. Neighborhood power plants (solution proposed by Traian Băsescu – no.) It is an interesting solution, but the centralized one is better from an energy and pollution point of view ”.
