OREANDA-NEWS. July 21, 2010. The Government is strengthening the social protection of the population in connection with the adjustment of prices for housing services. Minister of Labour and Social Policy Vasyl Nadraga said this during a telephone conference.

"Today the country's leadership has set us a task: to reach every apartment in a city, every house in a village. All who need assistance should receive it", Vasyl Nadraga stressed.

The Minister has reminded that last week the Government decided to reduce the threshold of required payments for housing and communal services: for employees from 20 to 15 pc of total family income, for unemployable citizens (pensioners and disabled) - from 15 to 10 pc: "So, conditions of receiving subsidies improved by quarter for employees and by third for families of pensioners and disabled".

Vasyl Nadraga has noticed that also simplified the requirements for receiving subsidies, as the list of required documents was significantly cut. According to him, working citizens must submit only three documents – an application for a subsidy, declaration and certificate of income, while retirees must provide an application and declaration. "That means that an income certificate is no longer required. Social security system will get itself in the Pension Fund data about the size of a pension and make appropriate assessments", stressed the Minister. He added that citizens already having subsidies will receive them automatically.

As Vasyl Nadraga said, the Labour Ministry opened a "hot line". So, calling 0800-507-309 citizens can obtain necessary information and explanations on issues concerning subsidies. The Minister appealed to the heads of regional administrations with a request to open similar "hot lines" in the regions.

The Minister said that it was established in the Ministry a headquarters to coordinate granting of housing subsidies, which is headed by Deputy Minister Vitaliy Mushchynin. Vasyl Nadraga appealed to leadership of the regions for two days to open the same headquarters in all regions, AR Crimea, Kyiv and Sevastopil. Coordination of work of the regional headquarters assigned to the Deputy Minister Kostyantyn Vashchenko. According to him, by 1 August to headquarters should be transferred information-methodical and instructive materials.

The Minister also added that during two days the regions will receive a decree signed by the Labour Ministry concerning establishing local bodies of social protection of the citizens on receiving housing allowances subsidies. As noted Vasyl Nadraga, under the State Employment Center will be organized public works to inform the public about the new order and possibilities of receiving housing allowances subsidies.

According to him, one of the key priorities is to establish information exchange between the bodies that appoint grants and organizations that provide housing and communal services. "Information exchange must be effective, which means that it has to be made in electronic form by modern methods", added the Minister. To this end, the Information Centre of the Ministry will soon complete the software used to provide housing allowances subsidies, and standardized forms for data exchange will be developed and agreed. According to him, to conduct information exchange must be prepared housing and service organizations, housing cooperatives, enterprises that supply natural gas for the population and others.

In addition, the Minister has said that local bodies of social insurance from today have to develop lists of citizens with disabilities, form a schedule to visit them: "I call on the regions, you must pay every one of those people a visit and help them to make a subsidy if they have not yet received it".

According to him, heads of regional administrations should consider the possibility of increasing budgets of departments of labour and social protection of the population in connection with the necessity of implementing measures pursuant to the Government’s decisions.

Vasyl Nadraga has also noted that the State Tax Administration and Ministry of Internal Affairs have to promptly provide data on income and property of citizens upon the request of departments of labour and social protection. Heads of regions’ districts and mayors have to give appropriate instructions to the Technical inventory bureau.

Meanwhile Head of NJSC "Naftogaz Ukraine" Volodymyr Trikolich noted that in each regional gas companies would be created a special working group, the purpose of which would be work with clients. "We need to take special control over preparation of documents in view of a new price, pay special attention to rural areas, we may even have to visit every house and assist in filling out documents due to a new price and make a point of documents that enable our customers, subscribers to receive subsidies or benefits", he said.

Volodymyr Trikolich has noted that the subscriber base, owned by "Naftogaz Ukraine", allows to calculate the volume of gas consumption of each of them: "We have all necessary facilities, we will try to work out for two weeks and already have full-format documents and have approximately the amount that each person has to pay. We will bring these documents to each client. All will in a very short time determine who falls under grants and benefits and be able to receive them".

In turn, Minister for Housing and Communal Services Yuriy Hivrych has said that the issue of subsidies for housing and communal workers is a fundamental, because people who don’t receive a grant can not pay and consequently do not pay. "This is our main debts that we have today. Housing and communal workers should visit every consumer and explain to every consumer - if he can not pay, do everything to protect this man", stressed the Minister.

Yuriy Hivrych also noted that today was lifted an item that prohibited receiving a subsidy for the debt for communal services.