Kyivskiy Metropoliten denies right of Cabinet to command fares in Kyiv

November 20, 2008 at 09:45 | Ukrainian News
The Kyivskiy Metropoliten municipal company, running the city subway, has said the Cabinet of Ministers has no right to command Kyiv to cut fares in municipal transport.

Petro Myroshnykov, the director of the Kyivskyi Metropoliten municipal company, gave his position on the Kyiv municipal television company.

"The government, as any other body of the state management, can sue the Kyiv city state administration and win the case if they have enough reasons. But, the government cannot command the Kyiv city state administration to cut the fares to increase them," he said.

The director of the Kyivskyi Metropoliten said that the current legislation gives local authorities, the Kyiv city state administration in the case, all powers to set fares at municipal transport.

In the light of the norms of the legislation Myroshnykov expressed his bewilderment at instructions from First Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov to the city administration to cut fares.

He branded the instruction of Turchynov as a political slogan, which cannot yield a reduction in the fares.

The director of the Kyivskyi Metropoliten said official documents are the only grounds for him to change fares. At present, Myroshnykov has a resolution by the Kyiv city state administration to introduce new fares in the city subway from November 4.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, a special governmental ad hoc team for transport fares in Kyiv on November 17 arrived at a conclusion that the city authorities had no economically justified reasons to boost municipal transport fares to more than UAH 0.8 per trip in buses, trolleybuses, and trams and to UAH 1 per trip in the Kyiv subway.

In the light of the conclusion of the ad hoc team First Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov instructed the Kyiv city state administration to bring the fares at the municipal transport in the city in compliance with the findings of the governmental ad hoc team.

Turchynov has also warned the city administration from hindering the work of the ad hoc team.

He further instructed the State Tax Administration to hold inspections at the Kyivpastrans municipal company and the Kyivskyi Metropoliten, so as to liquidate source of shadow revenues and uncover the real value revenues and to prevent tax evasion at the municipal companies.