The general mayor of the capital Nikusor Dan believes that in two or three years the heating problem will cease to be real in Bucharest, as investments will allow to return the heating network to the level of ten years ago.

“Next year, we will open about 15 construction sites, because very soon we will sign contracts on those areas that are for European money, and in the end we will do – because it is mandatory, according to the contract – 50 kilometers per year. And then the next winter will be much better than the current one. In two or three years, the problem of heat will no longer be a real problem for Bucharest,” the general mayor said on the B1TV station, according to Agerpres.

He noted that approximately 30 kilometers of heating networks were supposed to be repaired every year, but this is not happening.

“The trunk network has 1,000 kilometers and another 3,000 kilometers are on secondary networks, but there the losses are smaller because the distances are shorter. The core network, if you maintain it, you should have a speed of about 30 kilometers per year so that you never have a problem. The problem is that for years we made five-six-seven kilometers, and then kilometers of pipes accumulated that were not changed. It will take 20 years to completely rebuild it. But in order to return to where we were in terms of service quality ten years ago, it will take two to three years,” said Nikushor Dan.

​Hanmer added that the current heating situation is “the result of inaction for at least ten years”. In this sense, he noted that during the last ten years, in terms of payment obligations at the end of the year, less than 700 million lei were allocated annually, while the required amount was 950 million. Thus, during these ten years, 2.5 billion lei of unpaid money accumulated, which could have been used for investments, Nikusor Dan also specified.