The Cabinet of Ministers approved the financial plan of "Naftogaz Ukrainy" for 2006, which envisages a 50 percent increase in gas prices for the population from July 1.
In particular, the government "has agreed in principle to raise gas tariffs for the population from July 1 to 414 hryvnias per 1 thousand cubic meters," reported Fuel and Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov.
"The fundamental decision has been made. The issue of tariff differentiation we will discuss further," UNIAN quotes his words.
The minister noted that on June 2, a regular meeting will be held with Prime Minister Yurii Yekhanurov regarding the possibility of introducing differentiated gas tariffs for the population.
In particular, the meeting plans to discuss the criteria by which differentiation will be carried out.
According to Plachkov, based on the monitoring results of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy, low-income segments of the population living in apartments with an area of up to 60 sq. m and having a total income of up to 2 thousand hryvnias consume up to 50 cubic meters of gas per month.
At the same time, solvent segments of the population living in apartments with an area of up to 200 sq. m or houses with an area of up to 300 sq. m and having a total income of up to 18 thousand hryvnias per month consume up to 1 thousand cubic meters of gas per month.
The minister did not specify what share of gas consumption by the population falls on low-income and solvent segments of the population, noting only that additional calculations will be carried out in the near future.
As is known, on March 30 the NERC raised gas tariffs for the population from May 1 by 25%.
At the same time, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Ivan Sakhan said that a variant of differentiated tariffs depending on the volume of gas consumption and the income level of consumers is being considered, BBC reports.
According to him, the main instrument of compensation for low-income segments of the population for the gas price increase will remain state subsidies for payment of housing and communal services.
For this, the state will have to spend an additional about 400 million hryvnias. Sakhan claims that the increase in gas costs will not affect poor Ukrainians.
"The absolute majority of people receiving monetary income per family member less than the subsistence minimum will have serious support - whether it is 15% or 20% of their income they will pay for communal services," noted the minister.
"The tariff change will not affect them at all, they will pay a fixed amount," he added.