Currently, the price is about US$308 per 1,000 cubic meters / Photo from UNIAN
The previous increase took place on November 1, 2018, when gas prices grew by 23.5%, to about US$308 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Ukraine's government plans to raise the wholesale price of natural gas for households by 15% from May 2019, aiming at fully market-determined gas tariffs from January 1, 2020.
This is stipulated in the Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies under a new 14-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Ukraine in the amount of $3.9 billion, approved by the IMF Executive Board on December 18.
"As a first step toward the liberalization of gas tariffs, the government adopted a resolution (prior action) raising the wholesale price for gas for household use by 26 percent effective November 1, 2018, and by an additional 15 percent effective May 1, 2019," the document said.
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Household gas tariffs will be fully market-determined as of January 1, 2020, it said.
The resolution also aims to improve the functioning of the gas market and payment discipline, including by allowing Naftogaz to bypass non-paying intermediaries and by creating a customer database, under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance, that will be available to all registered gas suppliers. A start will be made with the monetization of utility subsidies, with the assistance of the World Bank.
As UNIAN reported, Ukraine's government on October 19 decided to raise gas prices for households by 23.5% from November 1, 2018, to UAH 8,550, or about US$308 per 1,000 cubic meters.