The Ukrainian government has taken a number of systemic measures to avoid a sharp rise in tariffs for housing and utility services amid rising energy prices in the world. This was stated by Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Rostyslav Shurma.
The deputy head of the Office of the President said in his blog for the Korrespondent publication that this winter there was an anomaly in the global and regional energy markets, which led to a galloping rise in prices for natural gas, electricity and coal. This was due to the rapid recovery of the global economy from the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the increase in consumption, to which supply chains were unprepared.
Russia has also played a role in energy price hikes, and its actions in the regional gas market have led to record prices. The price of gas per 1,000 cubic meters has increased 20 times compared to 2020.
Amid these processes, energy tariffs for household consumers across Europe have skyrocketed.
"The Ukrainian government clearly understands how sensitive this issue is for every citizen of Ukraine, so we have taken a number of systemic measures to curb rising energy prices and tariffs for housing and utility services," Shurma said.
According to him, some adjustments of some tariffs are possible within the inflation expectations of 10-11%, including tariffs for gas distribution and delivery, but the price of gas for households will not increase during the current heating season.
"The government has provided large funds to keep gas tariffs for households at last year's level – below UAH 8 per cubic meter. The government has also allocated funds to provide preferential gas to municipal heating companies, so that households can receive heating at almost last year's prices," the deputy head of the Office of the President said.
According to Shurma, the government also managed to keep electricity prices for the population from rising this year and even cut them for some categories of consumers. He said that the increase in tariffs for the supply or distribution of electricity for regional power companies will not in any way affect the cost of electricity for households.
In conclusion, the deputy head of the Office of the Head of State said that populist politicians and the opposition often like to use the issue of tariffs for baseless criticism of the government, so he called on Ukrainian citizens to pay attention to facts rather than political speculation.
"When there is nothing to come up with, they shake up the topic of tariffs for households. We have been able to implement a comprehensive program to prevent sharp growth, as has happened in other countries, but irresponsible populist politicians are still trying to speculate on this topic, although the facts speak for themselves," Shurma said.