Ukrainians were disappointed: raising tariffs and cutting subsidies is inevitable under any government
Another wave of increases in utility tariffs in Ukraine is inevitable, regardless of the results of the presidential elections.
Social issues expert Andrei Pavlovsky stated this during a press conference, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Almost 40% of people expect the first thing from the new president to be a significant reduction in gas prices and utility tariffs. But whether this will happen is a big question. Moreover, please note that the price will be increased not only for gas in May, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in the summer a new model of the electricity market comes into force and begins to work, the model of the so-called “direct bilateral contracts”, in which, understandably, As a matter of fact, large consumers will have preferences. And the population, from the point of view of those who provide the service and sell electricity, are small consumers.
Therefore, large industrial consumers will have access to cheap electricity generated by nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power plants. The population will pay in full. According to economists and experts who have calculated cost options, the price for the population in the summer could more than double for electricity services. Well, in the fall, it is clear that we will face another increase, in proportion to the increase in gas prices, heating prices and the entire range of utilities.
Moreover, please note that these expectations of the population from the new president may be in vain and will be the first disappointment, including in the new government. Mr. Zelensky does not say anything specifically about what he thinks about the tariff situation or gas prices. We haven’t heard anything about this,” he noted.
The expert also emphasized that in recent years the Ukrainian government has significantly reduced the number of subsidies for the population, depriving, for example, the families of Ukrainian guest workers, of whom there are now a colossal number, the right to receive them.
“Regarding subsidies. Please note that the government has committed to significantly reducing the number of subsidies in the country. If at the end of December 2017 we had almost 7 million households that received subsidies, then as of April 1 there were already less than three million. That is, we have reduced the number of households that are eligible for subsidies by more than two and a half times due to the fact that the government adopted “Resolution No. 320,” which made the rules for receiving subsidies much more stringent than they were. And the main blow, oddly enough, as statistics now show, fell on the families of the workers,” summed up Andrei Pavlovsky.
Ukrainians are disappointed: tariff increases and subsidy cuts are inevitable under any government.