Executive committee of Lutsk city Council approved tariffs

The issue of bringing tariffs into line with the real costs of heat supply services (heating, water heating) provided in Lutsk by the state communal enterprise "Lutskteplo", as well as tariffs for services for the maintenance of buildings and structures and adjacent territories provided by housing and communal organizations, was widely considered and discussed at all levels throughout almost the entire autumn. In particular, the public had the opportunity to hear the arguments for optimizing tariffs, the opinion of experts and express their proposals at public hearings, as well as submit written comments on draft decisions published in the mass media. The proposed tariffs for services provided by the communal enterprise "Lutskteplo" were studied in detail by specialists of the Volyn regional territorial division of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, and the tariffs for the maintenance of buildings and adjacent territories were adjusted downward by specialists of the state price control inspection. Thus, the tariffs for the maintenance of buildings and adjacent territories proposed by housing and communal enterprises envisaged a 10 percent profitability of the housing and communal enterprises; the inspection recommended revising the tariff taking into account zero profitability. This request was taken into account.

At the meeting of the executive committee on the issue of tariffs for services provided by the state communal enterprise "Lutskteplo", the director of this communal enterprise, Anatolii Luchko, reported. In particular, he noted that currently the enterprise settles accounts with its consumers according to tariffs based on 1999 prices. It is indisputable that a significant increase in the cost of the components of the heat supply tariff with a constant amount of payment for these services could not but affect the economic activity of the enterprise. Today it is obvious that the existing tariff does not correspond to real costs and therefore the enterprise's operation is loss-making. Over 10 months of the current year, the enterprise's losses amount to 3.5 million hryvnias, and every day for the same reason the enterprise loses 60 thousand hryvnias. Having heard these and other arguments of the speaker, the executive committee approved new tariffs for services provided by the state communal enterprise "Lutskteplo". Thus, approximately from the second ten days of December, Lutsk residents will pay 2.28 hryvnias per 1 square meter of heated area, and 4.75 hryvnias for heating 1 cubic meter of water. As Anatolii Luchko noted, the approved tariffs were changed downward compared to those proposed by the enterprise in the draft.

The consideration and approval of new tariffs for services for the maintenance of buildings and adjacent territories provided by housing and communal enterprises was preceded by the consideration and approval of tariffs for services provided by the communal enterprise "Lutskspetskomuntrans" and the cost of servicing passenger elevators in residential buildings. The reasons for revising the tariffs for the removal and disposal of solid household waste and the removal of liquid sewage, according to the director of the communal enterprise "Lutskspetskomuntrans", Valerii Kuzmych, are practically the same as in the case of the communal enterprise "Lutskteplo". Thus, the current tariff has not changed since September 2002, although there was an increase in prices for fuel and lubricants, the minimum wage grew, and the price of machine components also did not decrease. The rise in the cost of equipment, materials, spare parts and components for elevators also served as a reason for the discrepancy between the payment for elevator maintenance and actual costs.

The executive committee of the Lutsk City Council approved new tariffs for services provided by the enterprise "Lutskspetskomuntrans" and the new cost of servicing passenger elevators in residential buildings of the city of Lutsk. Tariffs for services for the maintenance of buildings and structures and adjacent territories provided by housing and communal enterprises were also approved. In accordance with this decision, the maximum tariff for payment for the maintenance of buildings and adjacent territories per 1 square meter of area will be 0.91 hryvnias for buildings with elevators, and 0.7 hryvnias for buildings without elevators. This does not mean that residents of all buildings will pay exactly this tariff: separate calculations will be made for each building. It is quite possible that in some buildings this amount will be no higher than 35 kopecks per 1 square meter. It is worth noting that this tariff takes into account the new tariffs for services of the enterprise "Lutskspetskomuntrans" and the new cost of elevator maintenance.

As noted by the deputy mayor of Lutsk, Leonid Kyryllchuk, the tariffs for services provided by housing and communal enterprises do not include profitability. In fact, when the minimum wage increases from January 1 of next year, the tariffs will again not be self-sufficient relative to costs. In general, in his opinion, the new tariffs should have been approved six months ago. The components of the tariff are minimized; the corresponding resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which determines the process of calculating payment for such services, contains a much larger list of tariff components. For example, the tariff structure for Lutsk residents lacks an expenditure item for the restoration of children's playgrounds.

Leonid Kyryllchuk also emphasized that the new tariffs were adopted with several conditions. First, from January 1, 2006, housing and communal enterprises are obliged to provide services for the maintenance of buildings and structures and adjacent territories, and to perform work for each building within the funds received from the owners of apartments and apartment tenants of that very building, in accordance with the work plan agreed with the building committee. Second, by February 1, housing and communal enterprises are obliged to conclude new contracts for the provision of services for the maintenance of buildings and structures and adjacent territories with building committees, owners of apartments, and apartment tenants, in which it is clearly determined when exactly and how many times per week, month, and year consumers will receive this or that service. Third, in the event of services not being provided to residents in full, housing and communal enterprises must without fail recalculate the cost of maintaining buildings and structures and adjacent territories. Refusal to draw up an act regarding the fact of non-provision of services or provision in incomplete scope does not remove responsibility; it is considered valid if it was signed by the owner of the apartment, the apartment tenant, representatives of the building committee, and the department of housing and communal services. The housing and communal enterprise is obliged to carry out a recalculation of the cost of services within ten days or provide a substantiated refusal. Also, building committees have the right, on a competitive basis, to determine contractor organizations that provide services for the maintenance of buildings and structures and adjacent territories, or to create associations of co-owners in the building and manage on their own.

Thus, by approving the new version of tariffs for the maintenance of buildings and adjacent territories, the executive committee not only brought them into line with current costs but also did everything possible so that the quality of provision of these services would significantly improve and so that the cost of services not provided would be recalculated.