The validity period of energy vouchers has been extended until March 31, 2024, the Minister of European Investments and Projects, Adrian Cachiu, announced on Thursday. According to him, the food voucher program and the food package program will continue next year.

• “We have extended the validity of energy vouchers until March 31, 2024, as we announced. Today we formalized the adoption of this measure so that beneficiaries, vulnerable families, vulnerable households can pay energy bills from these vouchers until March 31, 2024.
• The original deadline was December 31, 2023. This extension was approved after consultations with the European Commission and the positive dialogue we had there, and the positive response from their Lordships,” Cachiu said.

The minister said that other programs will continue next year.

• “Next year, among the programs with social impact, the food voucher program (250 lei) will definitely continue with the same frequency, which is provided every 2 months, as well as the food package program for the vulnerable population, which ends in 2023 year with new funding,” said Cachiu.

We would like to remind you that the assistance provided to vulnerable segments of the population to compensate for energy prices is a nominal amount of 1,400 lei, it could be used earlier until December 31, 2023, provided to the place of consumption/vulnerable household in two installments, as follows:

• a) 700 lei/semester, starting from February 2023;
• b) 700 lei/semester, starting from September 2023.

Funds can be used to pay for the following services/products: electricity, district heating, gas, cylinder, butane, firewood, sawdust, coal, fuel oil, pellets, briquettes, liquid or solid fuel and any others. heating materials that can be used for heating houses.

Vouchers for meals and hot meals in the amount of UAH 250 are issued every two months to low-income citizens according to the lists of beneficiaries centralized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity.

Last month, the Ministry of Investments and Europrojects started paying a new tranche for the supply of social cards for socially vulnerable sections of the population. The new tranche, worth approximately 625 million lei, will ensure that the cards belonging to 2.5 million vulnerable people will be topped up by another 250 lei in the coming days.