In light of the fact that under the new rules, many people have been deprived of subsidies and they pay for utilities without the help of the state, Ukrainians are anxiously waiting for the heating season. First of all, the population is concerned about the prices for electricity and gas (gas prices will be increased; the heating network services will also be increased).
Electricity
According to the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC), the real (economically justified) price for electricity is 2.6 UAH per kilowatt today. However, the population still pays 90 kopecks at a cost of up to 100 kilowatts and at 1.68 per kilowatt, expended over. Industrial consumers pay more in order to make up for shortfall.
Tariffs for the population will not be increased this year, Obozrevatel writes. This will happen in July in 2019. In a year, the electricity market will begin to operate in Ukraine, so the prices for electricity will be economically justified. In such a market, electricity will be sold not by Oblenergo, but by several traders.
They will offer “current” at different prices for us. And we, the population, will choose our service provider, as we choose our mobile operator today.
Gas
But if the price of electricity is not changed until July 1 next year, the price of natural gas can be increased in a few days. The government is constantly negotiating with the IMF, but they have not yet reached common ground. Tariffs for gas, at the request of the IMF, should have been increased even in the summer of last year in Ukraine.
They did not raise it, postponed the increase at first until April 1 of this year, then – until June 1 and until August 1. And on July 26, they extended it until September 1. During the negotiations, three prices for natural gas were discussed. The first and the highest is almost 11 UAH per cube – the price on the German hub + transportation costs and 10% VAT.
The second option is the most profitable for the population: about 8.3 UAH – from the price of the German hub to take transport costs and 10% VAT. And the third option: the net price of natural gas on the German hub. And then with VAT one will have to pay 9.8 UAH for the cube.
According to Ekonomicheskaya pravda, the Cabinet of Ministers is trying to convince the IMF that in the beginning it is necessary to complete the unbundling of Naftogaz by the end of 2018. Then, introduce daily balancing, reduce the number of grantees to 25%, or provide consumers with gas of their own production, and only then raise the gas price to market level.
As of the morning of August 26, there is no information on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers about how many Ukrainians will pay for gas from September 1. But there is less than a week before the end of the month...
