Gas and electricity tariffs will rise as early as 2025: expert Popenko named the main reason.

Municipal service tariffs will increase next year

The head of the Association of consumers of municipal services Oleg Popenko predicts an increase in tariffs for basic municipal services in Ukraine. This applies to electricity, gas, gas distribution, heating, and hot water. The main reason for the increase is the International Monetary Fund's demands to align prices with market levels.

'We absolutely have no market mechanisms. We have a huge number of restrictions from various sides in the market that do not allow for the development of a normal market', Popenko emphasized.

Ukrainian consumers overpay for municipal services compared to other European countries. For example, the cost of gas for the population under market conditions is 16-18 hryvnias per cubic meter, but we only pay 7.96. As for electricity, the price gap is also significant: we pay 4.32 hryvnias per kilowatt-hour, while the market price ranges from 9 to 11 hryvnias.

It is emphasized that unfair overpayment for municipal services in Ukraine compared to European countries, where tariffs are lower or equal, and salaries are twice or even three times higher.

It is also worth noting that Ukrainians overpay for heating up to 700 hryvnias per month.