Communal during the war. What will happen to gas and heat tariffs until the end of the year

Because of the war between Russia and Ukraine, many residents of large cities have left their homes and traveled to the west. Several million Ukrainians ended up abroad in Europe. In such a situation, the level of payment for communal apartments has dropped sharply. The government has extended what is essentially a feed-in electricity tariff for households, as well as abolished penalties for non-payment of bills.

Segodnya, together with experts, figured out what to expect from gas and heat tariffs for the population until the end of the year.

Tariffs will freeze

According to the government’s agreements with the IMF, this spring Ukraine was supposed to abolish state regulation of prices for gas, heat and electricity, that is, almost all tariffs at which the lion’s share of utility bills of Ukrainians is carried out.

But the war made its own adjustments to these plans. And now the Cabinet of Ministers decides to freeze the cost of electricity for at least six months – tariffs for the population will remain unchanged until the end of October:

• up to 250 kWh (inclusive, for the entire volume of consumption) – UAH 1.44 per 1 kWh;
• more than 250 kWh (for the entire volume of consumption) – 1.68 hryvnia per 1 kWh.

Experts say no other solution could be expected. After all, given the loss of work by more than half of Ukrainians, it is not advisable to raise tariffs. People would simply refuse to pay their bills. For example, in Kyiv, the level of payment for a communal apartment in March was 55%.

Most likely, a similar situation will be with gas, as well as with heat. Tariffs will be frozen for at least six months.

What will the IMF say?

Earlier, the IMF, which was the main creditor of Ukraine, demanded the abolition of state regulation of tariffs for the population and the transition to market pricing. True, against the backdrop of high gas prices in Europe, it was completely unclear how to do this. After all, the vast majority of the population would not be able to pay for gas at 30-50 UAH per cubic meter, as well as for heat, based on such tariffs.

Now, it seems that even the IMF will not be able to make claims to Ukraine if the government freezes tariffs at the current level. Because of the war, all previous agreements can be forgotten.

“It’s obvious to me that a decision will be made not to raise utility rates during the war and even for the entire next heating season. People simply won’t be able to pay even at current prices. the difference between tariffs for the population and the cost of gas that suppliers will have,” explains economist Daniil Monin to Segodnya.

According to him, now the IMF cannot demand anything from Ukraine, and it is unlikely to do so. Now Ukraine will definitely not pull such reforms.

“Ukraine is now asking for additional funding. The government gives figures of $5 billion a month, but this is a clear overkill. If you do not take increased military spending, then our entire budget is $70 billion a year, and in the first two months, revenues were overfulfilled Now, expenses have been reduced by UAH 180 billion,” says Daniil Monin.

He believes that it is enough to receive about $20 billion to finance the budget by the end of the year. This money will be enough not to raise utility tariffs.

“I think Naftogaz will sell gas to budget consumers at an average of $600 per thousand cubic meters. And for the population, the price of gas will remain at the level of UAH 8,000 per thousand cubic meters. Based on this gas price, the cost of heat will also be calculated,” Daniil Monin says

According to the expert, this year Ukraine will significantly reduce the consumption of blue fuel, because many industrial enterprises have been destroyed, and part of the population will not be able to return to their homes. Therefore, the current heating season can be completed with gas reserves at the level of 17 billion cubic meters, 14 of which will be domestically produced gas.

That is, Ukraine will need to purchase about 3 billion cubic meters of imported fuel. Most likely, international assistance will be enough for this.

Earlier, we wrote about how destroyed apartments will be restored in Ukraine. About what awaits the rental market during the war in different regions, read here.