The second block for Transnistrian refugees will cost €2.85m

The construction of the second block destined for internally displaced persons from Transnistria will cost 2.85 million euros. Whereas the Government wants the block to be erected by the National Housing Agency, the city authorities insist on having the municipal division for capital construction as a general contractor. Chisinau Deputy Mayor Mihai Furtuna says that while the costs for the first apartment house were equally split between the central and local authorities, in the second case the central authorities had a minor contribution to negotiating an advantageous loan with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Mihai Furtuna argues that the local administration will be unable to repay the loan if the contractor is not a municipal division. That is why the municipality negotiates with the Government to let the municipal division for capital construction do the job, and offers to fully cover the expenses. According to Furtuna, to build the second 80-apartment block, the municipality has already spent 1 million lei and allocated other 2 million lei for current work. The loan negotiated with EBRD amounts to 1.577 million euros. Asked about the rationality of supporting this project from the city coffers, given that the municipal budget is already in deficit by 1 billion lei, Mihai Furtuna told Info-Prim Neo that the project was initiated by the former Chisinau mayor Serafim Urecheanu, who promised to improve the living conditions of the Transnistrian refugees by building two apartment blocks, even though it has been an exclusive responsibility of the Government to do that. In the future, however, the municipality will not be able to afford such costly projects, the deputy mayor said.