President: Gas and heat tariffs for population won’t soar until heating season ends

"At today’s meeting, the Government, NJSC Naftogaz, the Association of Ukrainian Cities, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities sign a memorandum under which heat and hot water tariffs for the population will not soar by the end of the heating season. I think this is a great victory," President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a meeting of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He assured that the prices will not raise "amid any market changes, fluctuations, pressure from other countries."

At the same time, the President stressed that this decision was not comprehensive, noting that "now we are patching holes."

"Therefore, I expect a similar memorandum to appear – and we have already started working with local authorities – I would like us to have a memorandum not for one, but for the next three years so that there are no surprises for the citizens of Ukraine," he said.

The Head of State added that this year's preparations for the heating season were a special challenge given the rising gas prices in the world.

At the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the settlement of problematic issues in the area of heat supply and hot water supply in the 2021-2022 heating period.

At the Cabinet’s meeting on September 29, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the readiness of infrastructure facilities for the heating season across the country exceeded 90%, while some cities were almost 100% ready. Moreover, 18.8 billion cubic meters of gas have been accumulated in underground storage facilities, surpassing the figures of 2017 and 2018.

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