Against the backdrop of widespread poverty, Ukrainian authorities continue to raise energy and utility tariffs and deprive people of social benefits.
Economist Viktor Skarshevsky stated this on air on the ukrlife.tv channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“There are poor people in all countries, the question is their number. Half of our people are poor. I wouldn’t go by what the UN believes, there are various sociological aspects that can be argued with. A person who spends less per month than the actual subsistence level is considered poor. Now the actual cost of living in Ukraine is about 4 UAH. People who spend less than this amount per month are considered poor. We have 500% of such people.
In Ukraine, the poor are not only those who receive social assistance; there is also such a thing as labor poverty. People go to work, get paid, but they are poor. Because they receive less than the actual living wage. Labor poverty factors are generally the number one problem. Such people seem to have a job, but in fact they have no money. And there are 50% of such people in the country.
And against this background, so-called markets are being introduced - gas, electricity, heat. Tariffs and prices are rising sharply. At the same time, access to subsidies is becoming very difficult; new rules are already in effect, and many people who need subsidies will no longer receive them,” Skarshevsky said.