OREANDA-NEWS. May 14, 2009. The Government has no intention to raise natural gas tariffs for the population. The Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko announced during a press conference.

“For benefit of private regional gas companies the Government will not raise gas tariffs for the population and I think NERC (National Electricity Regulatory Commission of Ukraine) neither,” the Head of Government underlined.

According to the Premier, national regional enterprises dealing with gas supplies and gasification as compared to the other CIS states have fixed “excessive tariffs for transportation and sales”. That’s why Yulia Tymoshenko considers the facts of non-payment of salaries to the employees of regional gas companies prove the decision to privatize them had been a mistake, taken back in the times of Leonid Kuchma.

“Nowadays people employed by private owners test by experience what private business is, in those areas which should not have been privatized, the regional gas companies should have remained inside the state monopolies,” the Head of Government stressed and added employees failing to receive their wages have to appeal to private owners of the regional gas companies and prosecutor’s office.

“In the capacity of the Head of Government I will assist them in that. I will address General Prosecutor of Ukraine to find out where the private gas companies direct money obtained from supplies, transportation of the natural gas, and why they don’t pay salaries to the people working for them,” Yulia Tymoshenko accentuated.

The Prime Minister reminded the Gov’t is holding thorough activity to return local gas networks which are rented by private regional gas companies, Naftogaz of Ukraine company. As Yulia Tymoshenko put it, supply organizations will be set up on the basis of these networks. “And if the employees wish to switch to the state structures, they will obtain appropriate salary instead of scraps thrown to them by private owners,” Yulia Tymoshenko urged.