Energy compensations for December to vary between 500 and 1000 lei

Chisinau, Dec 27 /MOLDPRES/- Citizens will benefit from higher energy compensations in December, as gas tariffs have increased. Thus, the minimum threshold of compensation will increase from 300 lei in November to 500 lei in December, while the maximum threshold will rise from 800 lei to 1,000 lei. Minister of Labor and Social Protection Alexei Buzu made the statement today. He assured that citizens will not pay higher energy tariffs compared to last year.

In December, higher compensations will especially benefit citizens who heat with gas, as the gas tariff has increased. "We have made a clear commitment from the government that after receiving compensation citizens will not pay a higher tariff compared to last year. We did so in November and we will do so in December. In November the gas tariff was 13.12 lei, that's why the compensation for those who use gas was also lower. For December, we will have higher compensation for gas consumers because the gas tariff has increased. Therefore, we are making sure that after the citizens will be compensated, they will not pay a higher tariff compared to last year," said Buzu.

The minister noted that the minimum threshold of compensation will increase from 300 lei in November to 500 lei in December, while the maximum threshold will rise from 800 lei to one thousand lei. Thus, the average compensation in November was 524 lei and in December it will increase to 715 lei.

Thus, 243347 households that heat with gas will receive a compensation between 500 and 600 lei for December, 8610 households will have a compensation of 600-700 lei, and 278450 families will receive a support of 700 - 800 lei. At the same time, 19410 households will receive an amount between 800 and 900 lei, while another 93 519 families will get compensation between 900 and 1000 lei.

"This level of compensation will guarantee on average a lower post-compensation tariff than the previous year. The government will compensate the equivalent of 150 cubic meters of gas consumption per month per household. The amount of compensation will increase when tariffs increase. The compensation will decrease when tariffs decrease. Regardless of which way the compensation amount or the tariff amount moves, citizens who benefit from the compensation will not pay a higher energy cost than last year. This is a commitment of the Government and this is a commitment that we are implementing," he emphasized.

Compensations will be available after January 10, as will notifications of the amount of compensation. 

The budget allocated for compensation amounted to 334 mln in November. In December it will most likely reach 480-500 mln lei.

The compensation will be available at post offices or on a personal card, depending on the option selected by the beneficiary.

In November, about 703 thousand applicants were registered in the compensation system.

The government is offering energy compensation to vulnerable households for the third year in a row. Consumers are eligible for compensation if they heat their household using natural gas, heat, electricity or solid fuel. Compensations are offered for the cold period of the year, which includes the months of November to March.