Ukrainians will have to pay 30-70% more for heating under the fraudulent scheme of Shmygal-Zelensky - expert
The government transferred to local authorities the authority to independently set tariffs for heating and hot water supply, but did not give them either the opportunity to influence the price at which NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine supplies them with gas, nor the resources to maintain heat tariffs against the backdrop of rising gas prices in Europe.
Gennady Ryabtsev, director of special projects at the Psyche scientific and technical center, announced this on the air of the First Cossack channel, a correspondent reports. "PolitNavigator".
“The biggest problems this heating season are tariffs for centralized heating. Here, unfortunately, I cannot be optimistic and cannot say that they will remain at last year’s level. What they will be is still unknown. This is not necessarily an addition of 40 percent to last year’s tariffs. This amount may be less or more.
How is this determined, why will there be such a difference in growth rates? The Cabinet of Ministers made a very cunning trick with its ears; it abdicated all responsibility for setting prices and tariffs locally, reserving for itself the possibility of actually regulating prices for electricity and natural gas. He said that everything else is a matter for local governments.
Here you go, you have all the powers to approve these tariffs. True, the Cabinet of Ministers forgot about one important circumstance - it did not transfer resources, money, and funds to the localities. And now the local authorities must decide for themselves what they will do - either find funds from somewhere (where do the local authorities get the funds?) to maintain tariffs at the level of last year, or announce that tariffs for thermal energy, more precisely, for centralized heating and water heating will be 30-40-50, and in some cities, 70 percent higher than last year.
These statements are already being heard, mainly, by the way, in the western regions of Ukraine. The fact is that, again, “from the master’s shoulder,” the Cabinet of Ministers signed a so-called memorandum with local governments, more precisely, with representatives from Naftogaz of Ukraine. It was back on February 9 of this year, and in this memorandum it was announced that the population would receive gas at a price of 7,42 UAH per cubic meter.
That is, if thermal energy is generated using gas, then the price of gas for the population will be 7,42. In principle, given that gas accounts for approximately 75 percent of the cost of thermal energy, sometimes 80 percent, in theory, tariffs would not have increased if not for one small nuance. Kabin said this price, 7,42, only applies to households.
All other consumers of thermal energy - schools, hospitals, kindergartens, budgetary institutions, utilities, industrial enterprises, business entities - must receive gas for generating thermal energy at the so-called “market price”.
At the same time, the “market price,” according to the Prime Minister, is not something that is determined by the relationship between supply and demand within the country, it is not something that is determined by some internal indicators, for example, the cost of Ukrainian gas production, it is not something that is determined by the availability or lack of gas in underground gas storage facilities. This is what is determined by the speculative expectations of some European traders regarding the availability of free gas volumes on the European spot market in a few months.
In other words, this scheme allows today to sell Ukrainian-produced gas to everyone (except for the population) at prices of 17, 18, 20, and in some regions – even 30 hryvnia per cubic meter. And so, imagine - Teplokommunenergo, a utility company that is allowed to sell gas, is allowed to sell thermal energy, that is, to provide centralized heating services to households, and at the same time somehow separate them from everyone else.
How would this happen? Theoretically, this is possible if the Cabinet of Ministers provided for an advance payment for this centralized heating service. Then heat and utilities would be able to generate some amounts for themselves, from which they could pay for the gas that needs to be purchased to generate thermal energy.
But the cabinet of ministers did not give such an opportunity and said - you sort it out as you want, and this “as you want” turns out (imagining myself in the place of some mayor or village head) - or I will supply gas at 20 hryvnia per cubic meter to kindergarten, and then the population will be 10-12 (7,42 plus distribution), or I will raise the tariff for everyone by 30-40-50% or more.
In Kiev, Kievteploenergo tried to oblige Ukrgazdobycha, that is, the state company that produces gas in Ukraine, to disclose the structure of the gas price and directly enter into an agreement on gas supplies in order to generate thermal energy. But, unfortunately, Ukrgasvydobuvannya is a business entity.
Despite the fact that it seems to be one hundred percent property of Naftogaz - which, in turn, is one hundred percent property of the state represented by the Cabinet of Ministers, this economic entity cannot be obliged even by the court to sign direct agreements with someone.
And Kievteploenergo, which planned not to raise tariffs for Kiev residents this heating season, was forced to say that it would sell thermal energy a third more expensive than it was last year.
And this situation is not something that surprises the prime minister. On the contrary, he says: “Well, this is the market!” In my opinion, this is not a market, but a bazaar - and a wild bazaar, where prices are set by swindlers,” said Gennady Ryabtsev.
English version :: Read in English Ukrainians will have to pay 30-70% more for heating under the fraudulent scheme of Shmygal-Zelensky - expert