The government admits that tariff increases may cause dissatisfaction among consumers. But at the same time, they believe that targeted subsidies will help mitigate the situation.
The Ukrainian government has already developed ten options for changing electricity tariffs. There is still no final decision on this issue, since the Cabinet understands that the rise in price will cause serious discontent among consumers, adviser to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko told Channel 24.
He explained that the current tariff system, when those who consume less than 250 kilowatt-hours per month pay UAH 1.44 per kilowatt-hour, and those who consume more – UAH 1.68, is not entirely correct.
“It is not correct to determine the state of consumers by the volume of consumption. After all, the first 250 kilowatt-hours do not differ from the subsequent ones in terms of cost,” Boyko believes.
At the same time, the Cabinet of Ministers is confident that in the event of an increase in electricity tariffs, targeted monetary subsidies for vulnerable segments of the population can completely level the tension in society. At the same time, the government continues to weigh all the “pros” and “cons” in the matter of raising tariffs. Therefore, all 10 options for future changes are still up in the air.
“We’ll see what the solution will be. The traditional difficult choice between economic evidence and political expediency,” said Yuriy Boyko.
Why is the price of light going up?
Despite the fact that after the outbreak of a full-scale war, Ukrainians were promised that tariffs for housing and communal services would remain unchanged until martial law lasted, talk of revising tariffs, in particular for electricity, arose in early 2023.
So, on March 2, the head of the NEURC, Konstantin Ushchapovsky, explained that the calculation of tariffs for electricity is carried out taking into account the destruction in the energy sector and other factors. In particular, now Ukrainians still pay 1.68 per kilowatt, but due to Russian strikes on the facilities of Ukrenergo and Energoatom, it will be problematic as before to cover the difference in the cost of electricity. Therefore, the state is forced to look for a way out of this situation.
Therefore, new models of the operation of the electricity market are being developed, and in connection with this, several scenarios for raising tariffs, including those for the population, are now being considered.
Konstantin Ushchapovsky noted that, in fact, the principle of distributing electricity prices will not change, but the changes will affect the prices themselves.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainians, as stated on March 6 by the CEO of Yasno, a member of the DTEK group, Serhiy Kovalenko, owe about UAH 2.5 billion for electricity. He noted that due to martial law, the power industry cannot influence consumers who do not pay their electricity bills. But after the war, suppliers will certainly begin to turn off the most persistent non-payers from the light.
We will remind, earlier Focus said that in Ukraine there will be a reform in the field of utilities and a subsidy system, under which tariffs for housing and communal services for Ukrainians may increase.
