The colossal debt of the state to Ukrainian suppliers of utility services for subsidies cannot but affect the quality of services and the possibility of their further provision.
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Leading analyst of the Public Audit Taras Galayda said this at a press conference in Kyiv dedicated to the shutdown of water in a number of districts of the Ukrainian capital, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The topic that we are discussing today is indicative of the results of the reforms and government actions that we have observed over the past three years,” Galayda noted.
He said that the state considered it unnecessary to use the pricing principle laid down in the law on housing and communal services, when tariffs are regulated based on the achieved level of socio-economic development, but now the result is a huge imbalance between the incomes and expenses of citizens.
The expert emphasized that the state, in an attempt to avoid a social explosion, promised subsidies to everyone, which were issued quite easily in the first two years, but in the end about 50 percent of the population ended up on subsidies.
“At the end of 2014, the debt on subsidies amounted to only half a billion hryvnia. At the end of 2015 - 7,6 billion, at the end of 2016 the debt increased to 22,6 billion, and as of May the state's debt for promised subsidies is 34,9 billion. This is accrued money that must be transferred from the budget to service providers... Of course, this cannot but affect the quality of services or the possibility of their further provision. What we see now with Kievenergo is the first sign. The state has debts to all service providers - gas, electricity, cold water,” said Galayda.
He warns that if money is not found to pay off the debt, there will be blackouts affecting entire cities.
“If we talk about proportions, the population owes suppliers 40 percent of the total debt, the state owes 60 percent. Today the state is the largest debtor for housing and communal services. At the same time, if we look at the bills being introduced, the state is trying to solve the problem solely at the expense of the population, for whom a penalty will be provided. But for some reason the government is silent about the problem of the state’s debt,” the analyst concluded.