Govt decisions on gas prices fully in line with IMF Stand By Arrangement – Finance minister
Government resolution No. 293 dated April 3, 2019, allowing the reduction of price of gas for the needs of households lower than the prices set by the government in autumn 2018 in government resolution No. 867, is fully in line with the liabilities Ukraine undertaken in the Stand By Arrangement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukrainian Finance Minister Oksana Markarova has said.
"The prices set in government resolution No. 867 will actually function as a price cap for natural gas for the needs of households until the end of this year. This is in line with the goal of market pricing for natural gas for all categories of consumers, and thus it is in line with our commitments to the IMF," the minister told Interfax-Ukraine, commenting on the compliance of the IMF SBA with a situation in which the price ceiling is rising from May 1, but in fact, the gas price will drop.
Makarova said that government resolution No. 293 dated April 3, 2019 will allow the price of natural gas for households to correspond to the prices set in the market, which is in line with the goal of transition to market pricing.
The finance minister recalled that last year's resolution No. 867 adopted as part of the IMF program established wholesale prices for natural gas for household consumers for the period up to the end of 2019, when the tariff for natural gas used by households should become completely market-based.