The government’s decision stems from the need for additional financing for energy workers involved in restoring facilities after demolition. But, as stated in the Verkhovna Rada, the moratorium was canceled not only for this reason.
In Ukraine, there is no longer a ban on charging fines and collecting debts for housing and communal services. The relevant decision was accepted by the Council of Ministers in the last days of 2023. As explained by Andriy Gerus, chairman of the Committee on Energy, Housing and Communal Services of the Verkhovna Rada, the moratorium on the separation of Ukrainians from housing and communal services has been lifted due to the fact that the population increasingly does not pay for the services they use.
Important
In his opinion, the most disciplined payers were subsidies. This is because they avoided borrowing because they feared being deprived of government aid. In addition, retirees who were used to making their payments on time did not delay their payments.
At the same time, some wealthy Ukrainians with salaries in the thousands of dollars increasingly abused certain regulations and accumulated debts for electricity.
“The problem was that people who could and should have paid, especially during such a difficult time, realized they couldn’t pay and there would be nothing for it, so they didn’t pay,” he said.
Gerus noted that companies that restore energy after Russian bombing need money.
“That’s why the government made this decision,” said Andrei Gerus.
Why did the Council of Ministers reject the moratorium?
The government is trying to improve consumers’ payment discipline and the situation in the energy market. Focus writes about this in the article “Without electricity and gas: The moratorium on disconnection of services due to debts has been lifted in Ukraine.” But as housing and communal services expert Oleg Popenko said, the situation for ordinary citizens will now become much more difficult, because many of them do not have enough money to pay for utilities in full and on time.
“Citizens will have to look for money to pay off huge debts, as well as all these illegal payments they have received over the last few years. Their debts will actually increase. There will be no increase in the funds that people will be able to pay public services, because they have nothing to pay them,” he explained.
Important
Let us also remember that Minister of Energy German Galushchenko recently said that home consumers in Ukraine will pay 300 TL for the light. 2.64 hryvnia per kilowatt-hour at least until the end of the heating season. Tariffs will not depend on the volume consumed.
Source: Focus
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