Gas price for Ukraine households soars by 8.6 times in past 3 years – analyst

The price of gas in 2014 increased by 63% from the previous year, it soared by 273% in 2015 and by 42% in 2016, she said.

Further, heating costs for Ukrainian households grew by five times in the past three years (including by 88% in 2016), while power rates tripled (by 60% in 2016), she said.

"Thus, in general, housing and utilities rates rose by 47% last year compared to the previous one, accounting for almost half of consumer inflation," the expert said.

Read alsoUkraine economy in 2017: more growth, less inflationBilan also noted that the actual inflation rate at the end of 2016 was 12.4% while it was forecast at 11%, this was caused primarily by a sudden increase in prices of dairy foods in the fourth quarter last year. Nevertheless, food price dynamics during the year were moderate: prices of foods and non-alcoholic beverages grew by a mere 3.3% in December 2016 from December 2015 against 42% in December 2015 from December 2014.

"We expect a noticeable slowdown in inflation this year after gas prices have already been brought to the level of imported gas. Our projection of inflation by the end of 2017 is 8%," she said.

What is more, the expert does not expect any pressure on prices in connection with the supply as weather forecasts for crops are favorable.

"Our forecast of the forex rate (UAH 27 per U.S. dollar by the end of 2017) also doesn't imply significant pressure on prices. However, the expected recovery of households' purchasing power may contribute to inflation because of demand, partly due to a twofold increase in the minimum wage from January 2017. This may give an additional 1.0 percentage point to the index of inflation, according to National Bank of Ukraine estimates," she said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, inflation in Ukraine in December 2016 from December 2015 decreased to 12.4% against 43.3% inflation in December 2015 from December 2014.