Over the past year, the level of payment for housing and communal services fell from 95% to 65%, and abnormally large amounts of payments for the winter months will reduce it even more, says Sergei Galayda, head of analyst at Public Audit.
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“There are very abnormal bills - 8-10 thousand UAH. Local authorities promise to deal with them. The bulk of payments are also anomalous, throughout Ukraine. People receive payments of 2,5-4 thousand UAH, and the average income is 4,5-5 thousand UAH. And such payments simply put people beyond the survival line. The heating bill is 50 for some, 70 for others, and 100% of income for others.
The state tariff policy itself defies logic and is antisocial. It is not balanced in terms of income and expenses. People are unable to pay the payments they receive. Debts for housing and communal services are growing.
Even before these payments, at the end of November, the population's debt for housing and communal services amounted to UAH 19,1 billion, the payment level was 65%. At the same time, in 2015 the payment level was 95%, and the total debt was UAH 8,8 billion.
In 2016, the level of payment fell by at least 30%. Huge payments for December will cause an even greater increase in non-payments. The payments we will receive in February will be even larger, since January was colder than December,” says the expert.