Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca is dissatisfied with the Government’s intention to halve the municipality’s budget. He called on the central authorities to optimize the state budget expenditure and not to claim the money that belongs to the city, IPN reports.

In a news conference, Dorin Chirtoaca said that if the Government deprives the municipality of about 1.5 billion lei in 2014, Chisinau will be unable to develop according to the initiated projects. He enumerated ten development priorities of Chisinau for 2014. For things to go according to plan, the municipality needs another about 1.6 billion lei. The reduction in revenues will prevent the city from developing.

The mayor also said that during his six years in office, the Government allocated no money for the city’s development, but before the visits paid by high-rankings officials the City Hall’s employees are phoned nonstop and asked to clean the areas, to repair the roads, etc.

Under the bill on the local public finances, the districts and municipalities will be able to administer only 25% and, respectively, 45% of the revenues coming from taxes. Thus, 55% of the income tax paid by private individuals into the budgets of the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti will be transferred to a special compensation fund, from where the money will be distributed to the other settlements of the country. The bill is to be debated by Parliament after the summer vacation.