Deputy Head of the Regions Party and Deputy Prime Minister Sergiy Tigipko has said that gas prices for households will not rise.

"In terms of the size of salaries and pensions, Ukraine is currently not ready to raise gas prices for the public," the party's press center quoted Tigipko as saying on Thursday.

He said that through subsidies, the authorities could protect the poor, but the middle class would suffer, as the level of utility payments would grow for them by about 32%.

"We won't resort to this. We coped without the International Monetary Fund and we entered foreign markets. We borrowed more funds, but without negative consequences," Tigipko said.

As reported, the increase in gas prices for households is a requirement for the provision of an IMF loan tranche to Ukraine.