Teachers will be awarded 20% pay raises in 2010 too

The Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said the teachers in Chisinau will receive the 20% bonuses to salaries in 2010 as well. A fund of about 50 million lei was formed in the Chisinau budget for the purpose, Info-Prim Neo reports. Under the legislation, the local public authorities have the right to raise the salaries of the budget-funded employees only if at the end of the year they have a fund with which they can cover these costs. Dorin Chirtoaca said that though it was a hard year of crisis, the Chisinau administration managed to create such a fund. According to the head of the General Finance Division Maria Caraus, on January 1, 2010 the fund was about 50 million lei. The average salary of a teacher in 2009 was 2,300 lei.