The leader of the Fatherland party Yulia Tymoshenko claims that gas tariffs set by the Cabinet, contains a hidden tax.
She said that when speaking at a roundtable conference titled Will Ukrainians survive the next increase in utility tariffs?, organized by the Gorshenin Institute.
"The cost of Ukrainian gas is from 15 to 18 dollars per thousand cubic meters. By comparison, it is sold to Ukrainian citizens at the price of 285 dollars per thousand cubic meters. The price on the Europe-Russia border it is at 147 dollars. The price of gas for Ukraine laid down in the Russian budget is at 142 dollars. A question arises why, at this conjuncture, selling gas to Ukrainians for 285 dollars, the polititian said.
"The answer is obvious. As a result of crumbling economy, the national budget has a deficit. This price is set to camouflage a real tax, imposed on the citizens," said Tymoshenko.
According to her, in other countries the tax contained in the price of gas is at 12-15%, while in Ukraine this indicator is at 52%.
Tymoshenko believes that this situation should be rectified by a new approach to formation of prices for gas.
"All [household] consumers should be divided into categories. Those consuming large amounts of gas: have spacy apartments, houses, swimming pools etc., must pay two times more than the market price for gas. Instead, the [ordinary] people should pay a reasonable price that is not loss-making to extracting companies, but at the same time does not require subsidies," said Tymoshenko.
On 1 May, Ukraine has established a unified price of gas at 6.9 hryvnia per cubic meter.