The number of Ukrainians applying for utility subsidies has jumped by 10 times since the government simplified the application process in May, according to Social Policy Minister Pavlo Rozenko.
Raising utility prices for citizens was one of the conditions of the
International Monetary Fund for giving Ukraine a loan of $17.5 billion earlier
in 2015. To soften the blow for the poorest households in the country, the
government made it easier to apply for subsidies, slashing the number of
documents required to apply from four to just one – an income statement.
The number of applicants started to rise immediately after the changes
were introduced on May 1, with 30,000 Ukrainians applying every week, or 10
times more than before, according to figures given by Rozenko.
Now 1.9 million households in Ukraine receive utility subsidies, at a
cost to the state of Hr 24.5 billion in 2015. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
has said the government wants to allocate Hr 20 billion more next year to
satisfy increasing demand for the subsidies in 2016.
The size of the subsidies depends on the number of occupants of a
household, and their combined income. Members of the public can calculate the
size of the subsidy they are eligible for using a tool on the Cabinet of
Ministers website.
The subsidies are granted for 12 months, and are automatically prolonged
for subsequent years. Earlier, subsidies were only granted over the heating
season.
However, only the poorest households are eligible for the utilities subsidies. A family of two each earning
Hr 3,500 – the average monthly salary in Ukraine – wouldn’t qualify. But a
retiree on the minimum pension of Hr 1,074 will see the state pay for almost
all of their utility bills.
Those who aren’t homeowners but who rent can also apply for subsidies if
they are the ones who pay the accommodation’s utilities bills.
A family with a member serving in the war zone in the east of the
country can expect additional discounts on their utilities, according to
Rozenko.
If an applicant
provides false data about their family’s income, they have to return
double the amount of money they claimed.
“People are telling each other that when they get a bill for Hr 1,000,
they only have to pay Hr 200, because the state has already paid Hr 800,” Yatsenyuk
said at a Cabinet of Ministers’ meeting on July 29 in, after visiting a Social Protection
Department in Lutsk, Volynska
Oblast.
“The way the subsidy system works gives me confidence that we are on the right track,” Yatsenyuk added.
As a bonus to utility aid, the government approved on Aug. 12 a credit
program for home heating improvements. Under the program, Ukrainians can claim
subsidies worth up to 40 percent of the interest paid on credits they take to
fund energy efficiency improvements. People who qualify for utilities subsidies
could be eligible for subsidies of 70 percent of the interest paid on such
credits. The limit on the size of such credits for which the subsidies apply is
Hr 10,000 per apartment, but this might be raised in line with inflation.
The program covers expenses on purchasing electric boilers, equipment
for them, and also for thermal insulating materials for windows and roofs, as
well as solar panels. So far the state has repaid Hr 286.2 million on 17,000
loans, according to Serhiy Savchuk, the head of the state energy efficiency
agency.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliana
Romanyshyn can be reached at [email protected]
