Ukrainians can be expected not just to increase utility tariffs by 50%, but a real price collapse - up to 120% or more. This was stated by the chairman of the Union of Consumers of Utilities of Ukraine Oleg Popenko, commenting on a memorandum with the IMF.
In the public space, information appeared that the IMF allegedly demands that Ukraine raise utility tariffs to market levels, since now the population pays only half of their value. Although the memorandum itself does not have a number of "50%", it is about the orientation to the market - which, according to Popenko, means much more.
“The market value of electricity is not a plus 50%, but all 120%. Gas - plus 250% in some cases. That is, prices may become unattainable for most families, ”the expert warns.
He emphasizes that communal tariffs in Europe are mostly not tied to the market. Only five countries set gas prices for household consumers, focusing on the market. The rest has a compensation, subsidy system or even direct adjustment.
In Ukraine, the increase in gas prices will automatically entail the cost of heat supply and hot water - because 95% of the tariff for these services depends on the cost of blue fuel. In addition, the price of electricity will increase the cost of maintenance of homes by at least 20%.
According to Popenko, the unofficial debt of the population for utilities exceeds UAH 200 billion. And further rise in prices will only deepen this crisis.
“This is not just an unpopular decision - it is an attempt to translate the budget problems of the state to the consumer's shoulders. In the country, the war, the economy in the crisis, and the government silently agrees to the "recommendations" that mean the complete collapse of the housing and communal services, ”Popenko says.
According to him, the requirements of the IMF are not so much the pressure from the outside, but the initiative from the inside. “It can be an attempt to show Ukrainian powerful to show their" readiness "for rigid decisions to get new tranches. But a social explosion will be the price, ”the expert summed up.
While no government representative has publicly commented on the content of the memorandum or the possible consequences of tariff liberalization. At a time when each signed document can be a sentence for millions of families.
