OREANDA-NEWS. May 03, 2011. The first 20 trolleybuses of the Belcommunmas out of the total lot of 102 trolleybuses purchased by the Chisinau City Hall started running. The Mayor General Dorin Chirtoaca said during the presentation of the new trolleybuses that purchase of 102 trolleybuses from the Minsk Belcommunmas had become the most significant project for the Moldovan capital for 20 years and the biggest purchase of machines for the Moldovan capital.

The Belarus trolleybuses were purchased by the Chisinau City Hall at the expense of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank and the European Union under the Chisinau public transport modernization project worth 13 million euros. Particularly, the EBRD and the EIB provided loans in the amount of 5 million euros each for implementation of the project, and the European Union provided a 3 million euro grant. The new trolleybuses will consume 40% less electric power than the previous trolleybuses.

The Chisinau Mayour emphasized the significance and importance of the project, given the fact that 70% of 250 trolleybuses working in the Moldovan capital became old long time ago. The oldest trolleybus was launched in 1984 and the number of kilometers traveled exceeded 3 million kilometers. It is planned that all 102 Belcommunmas trolleybuses will be supplied to Chisinau by June 1. The price for a trolleybus amounts to 125,000 euros.