Third of Bucharest apartment buildings currently without hot water

Roughly 35% of apartment buildings in Bucharest are without hot water following maintenance works done along the central heating system.

“We’re at around 65% at the moment,” said Claudiu Creţu, general manager of Termoenergetica, the state-owned enterprise charged with supplying hot water and heating. “This means that hot water is turned off for thousands of apartment buildings, between 2,000 and 3,000. We’ve had problems in July in District 2 and District 3,” he added.

The representative of the supplier said that the recurring problems will be resolved by the end of the month.

“We have maintenance works ongoing, and within 3 to 5 days, next week, we hope that the Colentina area will have hot water again. That question remains whether or not a pipe will burst somewhere,” Creţu said.

According to the official, only two district thermal power plants are up and running during the summer, while the others are tested and checked for problems. As a result, a burst pipe can shut off the hot water for many more people than it would in the winter, when all power plants are up and running and able to take over for the one experiencing problems.

“This is why there are more problems concerning hot water during summer than in winter,” Creţu added. According to him, Bucharest’s power thermal power plants are very old and constantly need repairing. Meawnhile, the city hall has to take subsequent loans just to cover the costs incurred for providing hot water.

Nevertheless, the head of Termoenergetica is optimistic. “City hall has not slowed down the payment rate lately, it has paid more of its debt,” he says.

Despite current problems, the company expects a tough winter ahead. To rise to the challenge, Termoenergetica is looking to hire hundreds of unqualified workers. The new hires will be trained on the job.

“Out of 522 positions made available in the first half of 2022, only 113 were filled. In addition, the average age of the company's employees is 49 years and 6 months,” Creţu said.

An unqualified worker employed by the hot water and heating provider can have a net income of roughly RON 3,000 (EUR 607) per month, a third of which consists of meal vouchers. A welder or a plumber working for Termoenergetica earns between RON 4,000-5,000.