Water tariffs in Ukraine may become more expensive: how much will you have to pay

What will be the tariffs for water supply in Ukraine in 2023 - why and by how much will the prices increase. In which regions water will be more expensive in payments, read in an interview with ᐅTSN.ua experts.

Tariffs for water supply and drainage services may increase in Ukraine.

The final decision should be made next week by the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities (NKREKP).

The TSN.ua site asked experts whether such an increase in prices is on time and what ordinary Ukrainians can expect.

How much will the water tariffs be raised?

Oleksiy Kucherenko, People's Deputy of Ukraine, is convinced that the issue of raising tariffs for water supply and drainage today lies more in the socio-political plane than in the economic one.

"I have no doubt that every director of the water company will talk about his problems and will demand or justify another increase in tariffs. But on the other hand, the authorities made a political decision not to increase the basic tariffs. It is difficult for me to explain why water supply did not make it to this list .

I believe that today it is possible to do without raising water tariffs, taking into account the peculiarities of the moment.

But the decision will be made by the NCRECP, which is responsible for this according to the law. I will give arguments why this should not be done, "he told TSN.ua website Oleksiy Kucherenko.

Photo: www.pexels.com/pixabay

He adds that the increase in the price of the tariff for water supply and drainage was supposed to take place as early as January 1 of this year.

But it was postponed so that experts could understand the expediency of this price increase.

Now they plan to raise water tariffs in two stages.
The first stage is 10% from April 1, and the second stage is 20% from July 1.

That is, this is a significant increase of 30%.

People

will have to pay 7-10 hryvnias more to various water utilities than they paid before.

In which cities will the tariffs increase and why?

Oleksiy Kucherenko says that the increase applies to all water utilities that applied to the National Commission, which carries out state regulation in the fields of energy and communal services.

"Unfortunately, when the moratorium on increasing tariffs for heat, gas and electricity was introduced, for some reason water was not mentioned. Now water utilities have decided to take advantage of this situation. They have their arguments. They say that everything has increased in cost, all the main cost items First of all, they point out that reagents for water disinfection, electricity have become more expensive, they worry about wages. But you know, I have

yet to see the director of any monopoly who would not want to raise tariffs. This is what every director of regional energy, regional gas, the director of water supply and everyone wants

It is absolutely normal for them, they will find dozens of reasons to do it.

But these reasons should be thoroughly clarified by the National Commission, which carries out state regulation in the spheres of energy and communal services, because it is it that sets tariffs for water utilities," Oleksiy Kucherenko explains.

Tariffs for water supply as of January 1, 2023

He says that the current justifications for new water tariffs can be approached with a certain understanding, because the situation in the country is complicated due to the war.

"Although, in my opinion, this method and the latest regulation of water tariffs have little to do with common sense and effective state policy. Let me explain. Water utilities operate with justifications for one last year. They state that a year ago there was such and such a tariff, and during this time, one component has doubled in price, the second has tripled, and the reagents have quadrupled. Although the cost of electricity and salaries have not actually increased. But they somehow calculated it all and say: give us a 30% increase in water tariffs." , - says Oleksiy Kucherenko.

Offers an analysis of tariffs from 2014

He adds that he suggested to the management of the NKRECP to look at this process in a different way and to take into account the justification of water supply tariffs not for one year, but for the period from 2014.

"It was then that the constant increase in water tariffs began.

On average, in Ukraine since 2014, they have been raised at least 8-9 times. If the tariffs have become so expensive during this time, where did the money that people paid go?

According to the idea, a complete modernization should take place water utilities and their energy economy. And, obviously, there would be no need to raise water tariffs now. I will give one simple example:

in our country, the share of electricity in the cost of a cubic meter of water is on average 35-40%, while in Europe this figure is only 15%

. So if the water utilities had replaced their technical equipment, significantly reduced costs, then there was no need to even talk about new tariffs. But this was not done. And as soon as I say that, I immediately become an enemy of the water utilities for some reason," says the People's Deputy.

Why is the Christmas tree for the waterworks?

Oleh Popenko, head of the Union of Utilities Consumers, an expert in housing and communal services, notes that a two-time increase in tariffs for water supply and drainage is expected from April 1 and July 1.

On average, the increase will be 10%.

"It is difficult to answer the question: is it advisable or not to raise water tariffs, especially during a war. Of course, water utilities have problems. They are huge. They do not have enough funds to carry out capital repairs, pay for electricity, replace equipment and install more energy-efficient .

They have huge problems due to non-payments from the population. Losses in water supply networks reach 40%, and in some cities 50%.

All this is the reason why water supply companies say that tariffs should be raised. But on the other hand, we see a huge pile of facts when Vodokanal uses funds inappropriately. For example,

Zelenodolsky Vodokanal recently announced a tender in which they are going to buy Christmas trees for 2 million hryvnias

Here is the question: does the water supply company, which is located in the area of hostilities, need to buy Christmas trees for such an amount, even in March?" Oleg Popenko tells TSN.ua website.

The expert adds that it is worth analyzing the expediency of using funds by water utilities, the costs of the device against the background of existing problems in the industry.

"Have all the pipes been rebuilt yet? Have all the plugs been replaced? Have all the engines been replaced with energy-efficient ones?

I guarantee you that there is not a single water utility in Ukraine that has at least half implemented the plan to replace outdated equipment

. As for the planned price increase, the tariffs have never been raised made it possible to completely modernize neither water utilities, nor heat and power, nor in the energy sector.

No country has yet solved the issue of modernization and capital repairs at the expense of raising tariffs, because it is simply impossible

. The amount of money that is needed to replace equipment and pipes and everything else , it is incomparable to the sums in payments paid by solvent Ukrainians," Oleg Popenko declares.

He adds that the modernization of the water utility is a joint investment of the state, local self-government bodies, involved investments and funds of the water utility itself from what the consumer pays.

Only in such a tandem will we be able to carry out complete modernization and reduce costs in a short period of time.

water / Photo: Shutterstock

Where is the largest number of subscribers?

It is often said that Kyiv has the lowest water tariffs than in other cities of Ukraine.

But the expert notes that this has not been the case for a long time.

"I analyzed the average tariffs for Ukraine. Kyiv does not have the lowest tariffs for water supply and drainage. There are cities where the tariffs are even lower. You understand, here you need to take into account the number of subscribers, the length of the water supply network, and financial revenues (including from local budget), and "Kyivvodokanal" has such opportunities. Therefore, it is simply incorrect to compare the tariffs of Kyiv with any small city.

The tariff, first of all, depends on the number of subscribers who pay for services, on financing, on the attraction of investments

. Just right in the capital, everything is fine, but in cities, for example, Lubny, with a population of 30-40 thousand, there are really huge problems with this. By the way, the NCRECP does not affect the situation there, because in such cities the tariffs are set by local self-government bodies.

On the example of the Lubensky Waterworks in the Poltava region, we can say that a monthly subsidy from the local budget is allocated for the payment of electricity from 1 to 1.5 million hryvnias

Many small water utilities do not have enough of their own funds even for the monthly payment of electricity," Oleg Popenko explains.

That is why we often hear from representatives of water utilities about the need to raise tariffs to cover at least the cost of services.

Earlier, we reported how Kyiv is being saved by generators and whether utility tariffs will increase.