The heating company of Timișoara, Colterm, will no longer deal with the transport of heating agent to subscribers, but will only do production, announced the mayor Dominic Fritz. Starting from June, Timișoara City Hall will transfer the distribution to one of the companies established by the municipality in order to be able to attract European funds, according to Transilvania Business.

“I’m glad that since it entered insolvency, Colterm managed to pay the green certificates last year, from the moment of entering insolvency, as well as this year. But it is clear that Colterm is still a sick patient, which will not get better just by inertia, yet some difficult, but assumed decisions are needed. Therefore, I inform you that in June the delegation contract through which the municipality of Timișoara concluded this agreement with the Colterm company for the production and distribution of the thermal agent in Timișoara expires. With the expiration of this contract, it is the right time to rethink this entire heating ecosystem in Timișoara…Colterm should focus on production, that is, on the basic activity in the two settlements, and the distribution and effective supply of the heating agent to the population should be done by a another company, of Timișoara City Hall. It is “the city hall’s problem” how to further distribute this thermal agent. At the same time, Timisoara City Hall will have the opportunity to access other funds for alternatives to production,” said Dominic Fritz.

“Colterm, currently being insolvent, cannot access, for example, European funds for refurbishment. This possibility is given by the Timișoara City Hall, that’s why we also have a submitted a project for cogeneration. In order to be able to use the thermal energy from this new production source, we need the distribution network, and that is precisely why the two things can be separated in the future,” said Fritz.

“This means that we can also invest in other technologies or other companies can invest in other technologies. Geothermal, biomass, cogeneration… and we can buy from many, that want to invest in this area. Once again I think a system change is needed. Just this year, Timișoara City Hall, from the local budget, paid 112 million lei, that is 1,000,000 lei per day, subsidies for heat. These subsidies seem to increase year by year and it is a dynamic that we must stop, but at the same time our clear and assumed objective is to continue to have the heating system in Timișoara. That is precisely why we are now taking this natural step. We enter into a new contract strictly for production with Colterm and another contract for distribution and supply with the new company of the city hall. We have already established two companies since last year. We are preparing one of them now to be able to take over this service. A service that will also allow another way of invoicing, of relation with customers, of digitalization, because when we can start from a new point we can improve our services for citizens,” added the mayor.