Prime Minister: Local governments should refund to indigent citizens who failed to apply for subsidies

"With regard to the people who have failed to apply for housing subsidies but need government assistance, the local governments have to take decisions and to reimburse the amount of money, the mentioned category of people have spent since prices and tariffs raised", stressed Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, July 29.

The Prime Minister reminded that he had paid a working trip to Lutsk in synergy with Minister of Internal Affairs and Justice Minister and without warning they had called on a social policy department to get familiarized with problems in the process of obtaining housing subsidies. "My overall impression: of course, there are certain problems”, said the Prime Minister. But people began getting subsidies and share with each other that having UAH 1 thousand in a bill they only pay UAH 200, as the sum of UAH 800 is paid by the state. “This is probably the best way to encourage people to apply for housing subsidies", he stressed.

The Prime Minister appealed to Minister of Social Policy Pavlo Rozenko with an order to amend a decree and to authorize commissions of the local self-government authorities to decide on compensation for the most needy citizens of funds they spend for housing and communal services, even if such person failed to apply for a subsidy in time. "It will be a significant step towards helping people", noted Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The Prime Minister also stressed that throughout August there would be sent again by "Ukrposhta" an application form and a Declaration form to get housing subsidy, including an explanatory letter from the Government – "how is the subsidy assigned, what has been achieved in this issue and what has been done to solve social and economic problems."

"People once I get the statement. To those who are unable to appeal, appealed, and the state has provided assistance to low-income citizens of the country," he said.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk also instructed the Minister of social policy to expedite the sending of new forms of documents for registration of subsidies – as much as possible simplified, without specifying the income of citizens.

Moreover, Arseniy Yatsenyuk commissioned Minister of Social Policy Pavlo Rozenko to speed up sending new forms of documents which had been simplified by removing information about incomes of citizens.