Grosu on Electricity Compensation: Electoral Alms Will Cost Half a Billion

The acting PAS chairman Igor Grosu believes that the PSRM's initiative to compensate for electricity tariffs for all household consumers during the state of emergency is pure populism. Grosu says the initiative is an electoral charity and suggests that the PSRM can take money from the NBM's foreign exchange reserves to provide financial coverage for this project, ipn.md reports. The project on compensation of electricity tariffs was approved a week ago, in the first reading, by the PSRM-Shor coalition. PAS leader Igor Grosu believes that this project, most likely, will not be approved in full. "When we asked them why it’s impossible to use the existing system by which people with low incomes can be identified, they said that all people contribute to the budget, and everyone needs to compensate for electricity tariffs, that is, those who own Lexus and the one who uses the trolleybus. This is pure populism. I do not even think that they will bring the draft to the second reading, because there is no money for that," Igor Grosu said during the Moldova in direct broadcast on the public TV channel. Moreover, according to Grosu, in the absence of money provided for in the budget for such expenditures, the socialists may encroach on the NBM's foreign exchange reserves. Indeed, earlier Igor Dodon said that it would be advisable to take funds from the NBM's foreign exchange reserves in order to help citizens during the state of emergency. "This is electoral alms worth half a billion lei. The question is where we will get the money, and the answer will be that the money will be obtained by removing a billion dollars from the National Bank. After the previously stolen billion, this is another invention to withdraw another billion from the NBM. PSRM has started its election campaign," Igor Grosu said. According to the PSRM bill, the compensated amount will be 428 lei - 214 lei per month for each consumer, when the state budget will cover the cost of electricity for households in April and May.