The National Forum of the Trade Unions of Ukraine is planning to oppose any attempts to increase gas prices for the public if the government does not provide corresponding reimbursements, Myroslav Yakybchuk, the board chairman of the forum, has said.
Yakybchuk said this while commenting on a statement by Serhiy Kruhlyk, the director of the foreign economic ties department of the National Bank of Ukraine, that gas prices under a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund will be increased from October 1, 2009.
"Our conditions are transparent and legal. First of all, the government should give grounds for increasing gas prices to the public and explain where the money received will be directed to. Secondly, the growth of gas prices should be accompanied by a governmental program which would reimburse citizens for their losses and differentiate payments for gas depending on the level of family earnings," Yakybchuk said.
"If our conditions are not fulfilled, we will resist the growth of gas prices with all means possible: from court actions to mass protests," he said.
