The main reasons affecting the sustainability of the activities of Apă-Canal Chișinău are not the “restrictive methodology”, but its violation by the operator, - NAER.
The National Agency for Energy Regulation said it had analyzed the allegations made by Apă-Canal Chisinau at yesterday's meeting of the Chisinau Municipal Council, referring to the emergency situation in the water supply and sewerage services sector, generated by the "restrictive" tariff methodology, as well as the fact that “tariffs do not cover unavoidable operating costs such as electricity costs, water tax, motivational salaries, purchases.” NAER draws attention to the fact that Apă-Canal Chișinău in 2019-2021 did not submit any requests for adjustment of tariffs for the supply/execution of public water supply and sewerage services in accordance with the provisions of the law. Given the methodological rigor, Apă-Canal Chisinau in 2019-2022 there were positive deviations (tariff surplus) in the amount of about 370 million lei, which are to be included in the calculation of subsequent tariffs. In addition, on March 25, 2022, Apă-Canal Chișinău requested tariff adjustments from NAER, but later, by a letter dated July 4, asked to suspend consideration of the application for approval of tariffs for the provision/approval of tariffs for public water supply and sewerage services, arguing that it would present a more comprehensive royalty information. Regarding the approval of the provisional tariff for the production and/or transportation of water for the purpose of redistribution for the Chisinau-Straceni-Calarasi pipeline, NAER states that it has repeatedly requested submission of requests over the past 2 years, but the requests have been ignored by Apă-Canal Chisinau. With regard to covering the operating costs of Apă-Canal Chisinau in the provision of public services for water supply and sewerage, it is noted that the Methodology for determining, approving and applying tariffs for public services for water supply, sewerage and water treatment makes it possible to cover all operating costs of the operator, subject to the limit of technological consumption and losses of water in the public water supply system. However, the technological consumption and losses of water in the processes of intake, preparation, transport, accumulation and distribution of water presented by the operator for approval must be reasoned and justified. NAER argues that the main reasons affecting the sustainability of the activities of Apă-Canal Chișinău are not in the “restrictive methodology”, but in its violation by the operator: the inability to justify the losses made in the networks; failure to submit a request for approval of tariffs on time (annually); inadequate coordination of the Collective Labor Agreement, which cannot be fulfilled at the expense of the tariff, without assessing the real possibilities of fulfilling the obligations assumed by the parties; use of the tariff surplus formed in 2019-2021 for other purposes, etc.// 28.10.2022 — InfoMarket
