Cabinet mulls fixed gas price for households

The Cabinet of Ministers will propose that a fixed gas price be set for household consumers at UAH 6.99 per cubic meter.

That's according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

"In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of quarantine restrictions in Ukraine, a sharp and exorbitant increase in exchange gas prices in recent weeks, it is proposed to introduce state regulation of gas prices for all household consumers in Ukraine for the period of quarantine restrictions or until the end of the heating season. The proposed price, which will be established at this moment, is UAH 6.99 per cubic meter," Shmyhal said at a government meeting on Wednesday, January 13.

If the Cabinet pursues the move, in February the price may rise to UAH 12 per cubic meter.

After that, the prime minister instructed the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture, as well as the Ministry of Justice, to draft a government decree on the introduction of state regulation of gas prices pending quarantine restrictions.

Background

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, responding to a number of rallies held in some regions, instructed the government to urgently address the issue of gas tariffs for households.

Read alsoEnergy 2020: Free gas market for households, rapprochement with EUA new gas price has been in effect in Ukraine since January 1, offered by gas suppliers as part of the competitive gas market launched in Ukraine for the households. In June 2020, the procedure for changing gas suppliers for household consumers was simplified as part of the implementation of structural beacons put forward by the International Monetary Fund to pursue the Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine.

Gas supplying companies offer to buy gas in January at a price from UAH 6.99 to UAH 10.8 per cubic meter, while the minimum price is 11% higher than that in December and the maximum price is 20.5% higher.

In addition, new tariffs for gas transmission were introduced from January 1.

The energy regulator NEURC  has increased tariffs for the services of 43 gas distribution companies by an average of 1.6 times from January 2021.

Since early January, rallies against the increase in utility tariffs have been held in a number of regions of Ukraine.