In Kyiv they are finding out who is to blame for debts and poverty, keeping silent about the main thing

Over the past year, the amount of debt owed by the Ukrainian population for housing and communal services has almost doubled. The number of subsidy recipients decreased by approximately the same amount.

Alexander Sergienko, director of the Urban Institute, stated this at a press conference in Kyiv, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“We can say for a long time that (gas price) need to be understood in order to increase production in order to receive the IMF tranche to cover the budget deficit. Everything is beautiful. The goals are noble. But let's look at the consequences. In 2017, the level of household debt was approximately UAH 34 billion. At the end of 2018, this figure is UAH 55,6 billion. This indicates that the population is not able to pay these tariffs.

Until the spring of 2018, until new rules for calculating subsidies were adopted, which made the conditions for receiving them very strict, the subsidy system was a certain safety cushion that made it possible, one way or another, to keep the population and industry afloat.

But after our “wise” Ministry of Social Policy made these changes at the end of April 2018, about half of the families lost subsidies... the number of subsidy recipients was halved. This leads to debt. They deprive them of subsidies and people stop paying,” he said.

The increase in tariffs is accompanied by a drop in gas production in Ukraine, which, as politicians have repeatedly said, should go to the needs of the population as it is cheaper than purchased abroad. Valentin Zemlyansky, a former employee of the Naftogaz press service, drew attention to this fact.

“...At the end of 2018, the production of commercial gas by Ukrgasvydobuvannya decreased by 100 million cubic meters. This is a failure not even in terms of increasing production, but even in terms of maintaining the level,” says the expert.

Economist Igor Garbaruk points out that earlier Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman criticized Yulia Tymoshenko’s election promise to reduce gas prices if she wins and takes the presidency.

“Is it possible today to reduce the price of gas in the country by two, three or four times without consequences for the national economy, without economic collapse? I ask you, as professional people, to discuss this topic, and I am deeply confident that if you find a solution that this is possible, and it will be fully consistent with our agreements with the EU, the World Bank and the IMF, I commit myself to this a professional solution that will be found will be implemented literally in a week,” Groysman said the day before.

“If society, the expert community, looks for certain solutions for Mr. Prime Minister on how he can negotiate a reduction in gas prices, then Mr. Groysman should simply quit his job. Put yourself in such a professional “bullet in the forehead.” Completely acknowledge your incapacity. It is unprofessional to voice such things. Bring the country's economy to collapse, raise the price of gas to sky-high heights, and shift responsibility to society. This is unacceptable for the prime minister,” Garbaruk says indignantly.

Let us recall that in 2013 Russia offered Ukraine to join the Customs Union, receive multibillion-dollar loans and preferential terms for gas supplies. Instead, a coup was organized in Kyiv, which subsequently led to the loss of Crimea and the outbreak of civil war.