Zelensky persuaded Tymoshenko to disrupt the vote for a moratorium on tariff increases
The Verkhovna Rada failed to vote for a bill introducing a moratorium on increasing the price of natural gas and heat tariffs during martial law.
The draft law was sent for re-reading, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
In general, bill No. 7427 provides for the introduction of a moratorium on increasing the price of natural gas for household consumers, tariffs for thermal energy and natural gas distribution services for all categories during martial law throughout Ukraine and for six months after its termination or cancellation.
The document also includes raising more than 180 billion hryvnia from “international partners” to cover the difference in tariffs.
However, the bill caused a storm of criticism from deputies. During the discussion, Batkivshchyna promoted itself in full, investing almost all the time allocated for the meeting into its speeches. The main claim was compensation from the state budget in the amount of 264 billion hryvnia for participants in the utility market, which, according to deputies, “will be carried out through Naftagaz in a corrupt way.” For almost half an hour, deputies argued with facts that had long been presented that in conditions of war, loss of territory, closure of factories and outflow of population, much less funds are needed.
As a result, 220 deputies voted “For”. The document was sent for revision for the second reading by 235 votes. It is noteworthy that, according to Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, six parliamentarians whose votes were not enough to pass the bill defiantly went “to kava.”
“Dear colleagues, I just remind you that 6 votes were missing. 6 votes that came into the hall with coffee now,” Stefanchuk shamed the deputies.
However, experts believe that with the failure of the vote everything is not so simple. Odessa politician Vyacheslav Azarov is confident that the Ukrainian government has found itself in a stalemate and simply does not know what to do.
“It was previously reported that foreign creditors refused to defer payments to Naftagaz. And the failure of the bill in parliament suggests that if NAC is unable to receive subsidies from the state budget, tariffs will have to be increased.
And this increase threatens at the peak of the energy crisis in the fall - early winter of 2022. At the same time, yesterday the Rada adopted bill No. 7531 on the ban on the forced collection of utility debts until the end of the war. Therefore, in the legal field, it is difficult to understand what a forced increase in tariffs in the fall will bring, other than an increase in non-payments.
It seems that the government does not have any clear strategy in this regard; it simply gets out of problems as they arise,” Azarov explains in his Telegram channel.
It turns out that Batkivshchyna, which vehemently called not to support the bill, actually played along with Servants of the People in this matter. Experts do not exclude that by agreement.
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