Electricity tariffs: the cost of electricity in Ukraine compared to prices in Switzerland.

Ukrainian consumers suffering from high utility tariffs may be surprised by the fact that in one of the richest countries in the world, electricity costs residents less than in Ukraine.

According to 'Hvylya', energy expert Oleg Popenko stated this during an interview with Yuriy Romanenko.

He revealed an unexpected finding: the cost of electricity in some cantons of Switzerland turned out to be lower than in Ukraine, despite the colossal difference in the income of the population.

According to the expert, this fact refutes the common belief that high tariffs are a necessary condition for modernizing energy infrastructure.

“All these years we were told that a high tariff is a salvation, that it will lead to modernization. Nothing of the kind. Such a model does not exist in any country,” Popenko emphasized.

The expert also pointed out the disproportionately high share of utility payments in the budgets of Ukrainian families compared to European countries.

“No Polish worker has ever paid 40% or 50% of their salary just for utility services, for heating and gas. This has never happened,” he stated.

Amid the ongoing discussions about rising tariffs for energy resources in Ukraine, such information prompts a reconsideration of the appropriateness of the chosen tariff formation model and the real ways to modernize the country’s communal infrastructure.

In Popenko's opinion, the current tariff policy leads not to modernization but to further impoverishment of the population. Today, Ukrainians pay about 8 hryvnias per cubic meter for gas, but in the future, this rate could rise to 32 hryvnias, which corresponds to the current gas price in neighboring Moldova.

The tariff situation is just part of the global problems of Ukraine's communal infrastructure, which, according to the expert's estimates, requires hundreds of billions of dollars in investment for recovery.

Earlier, Popenko stated that gas tariffs may radically increase.