2021-01-14T18:10:00+02:00 Economy 2024-08-15T07:29:00+03:00

Ukrainian news

IMF Concerned By Ukraine's Intention To Regulate Household Gas Prices – Marchenko

IMF Concerned By Ukraine's Intention To Regulate Household Gas Prices – Marchenko

The International Monetary Fund is concerned by Ukraine's intention to regulate gas prices for households.

Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko announced this in an interview on Radio NV, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“Our partners know that such a decision is possible. They have a corresponding reaction. They are concerned that we are somewhat revising our earlier commitments. The issue now is that this can be part of a mechanism or a temporary solution. The acting minister of energy is actively working on this. By the way, he held a telephone conversation with the IMF yesterday. I think that the relevant consultations will also be held today. That is, this is a permanent process. It is happening all the time. There are currently no grounds to categorically say that we have already done something very bad," the minister said.

According to him, the government is trying to explain to representatives of the IMF that failure to make a decision to cut prices can have very negative consequences for the country's economy as a whole.

The government is explaining to IMF representatives that Ukraine is currently solving the problem in a fire-fighting mode, he said.

According to him, Ukraine undertook clear obligations regarding market-based tariff setting in the natural gas market in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies it submitted to the International Monetary Fund.

Marchenko stressed that a decision to cut prices has not yet been made.

This can be done shortly, he said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that fixing the gas price for households at UAH 6.99 per cubic meter will reduce household gas bills by about 30%.

The Cabinet of Ministers intends to fix the gas price for households at UAH 6.99 per cubic meter from February 1 until the end of the quarantine.