VIDEO Olguța Vasilescu accuses Prime Minister Bolojan of blocking heating investments in Craiova: “The bankruptcy of the CET willed by the Government is for some an end in itself”

The PSD mayor of Craiova, Lia Olguța Vasilescu, accused the liberal prime minister Ilie Bolojan of not wanting to save Electrocentrale (CET) Craiova, “but simply to close it and the city to be left without any solution”.

• On Wednesday evening, HotNews requested a point of view from the Government regarding the accusations of Lia Olguța Vasilescu. If the Government representatives comment on the situation, we will return with their position.

“Since 2015, we wanted to address other solutions for heating the city, with Deputy Mayor Dașoveanu being the one who was preparing the transfer to neighborhood micro-power plants. We stopped after the ministry informed us that our approach would bankrupt the CET from Craiova, which remains without the cogeneration bonus, that this would mean 500 jobs lost and another 6,000 of the Ford company affected,” said Lia Olguța Vasilescu, on Wednesday evening, in a video message on Facebook.

She claims that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, who had suggested that the heating problem in Craiova is related to the way the situation was managed at the local level, wants the city “to remain without any solution”.

“Two years ago I wanted to find another solution, that of a city plant, which is why I started the purchase of land near the CET and requested, last year, all the assets necessary for the production of thermal energy from Electrocentrale, from the Government, to buy them, not for free, and it was rejected, as a clear proof that, in fact, Ilie Bolojan never aimed for the Government's company to be saved, even by taking over town hall, but simply to close, and the city of Craiova to remain without any solution”, continued Lia Olguța Vasilescu.

Vasilescu, about Bolojan: He blocked the investment and told us that we don't know how he did it in Craiova

The social-democratic mayor said that in January he publicly asked the liberal prime minister “to grant at least 50 million lei for Electrocentrale, a government company, to last at least two more years without breakdowns until the construction of a new production capacity of Craiova City Hall, developed in partnership with an investor, if he still rejected all the solutions and requests”.

“The memorandum did not receive the necessary approvals, Prime Minister Bolojan choosing the way to block this investment as well and to listen to us that we do not know how he did it in Oradea – Oradea which was the champion of state aid for heating, under all governments, and which has both production and distribution at the town hall, does not have production at the Government, as is the case of Craiova”, the mayor continued.

Olguța Vaseilescu accused an attempt “willed by the Government” to bankrupt the CET from Craiova.

“When these disappear, everyone can think of strategies on their own. It's a shame that the bankruptcy of the Craiova CET will be further weakened by the Government, but for some, who keep making scenarios to sell Hidroelectrica and other state companies if they can't bankrupt them, it's a goal in itself. They will always find scapegoats to blame”, the mayor also declared.