There is no reason to speak about an increase in tariffs for housing and communal services. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman on air of the TV channel "112 Ukraine" on Tuesday.

"I consider it groundless to talk about raising tariffs", he said.

The Prime Minister stressed that the current objective is to get rid of energy dependence of the country, so the Government is taking steps in this direction. In particular, last year the Cabinet of Ministers managed to cease decrease in volumes of extracted gas and resumed production of it in Ukraine. This year, according to the plans, there will be produced by 500 million cubic meters of national gas in Ukraine more than last year, enabling the country to strengthen its energy independence.

Having made the decision on establishing the limit price of gas, the Government has eradicated deals in the gas sector created by those who used to "line their pockets" on difference in gas prices, and moreover has protected people through a subsidy system in the housing and communal services sector.

"When I came to work with the Government my purpose wasn’t to increase our dependence. I want to make Ukraine strong, ensure its economic and energy independence, to make it a country where people live normal lives", said Volodymyr Groysman.

The Head of Government noted that the procedure of approval tariffs is within responsibility of the National Commission Regulating Energy and Utilities issues (NCREU) and those are calculated by regional utility service providers belonging to local communities.

In this regard, the Prime Minister urged regions to develop comprehensive programs for modernization of housing and utilities sector and municipal power system. Among necessary measures to be taken, he named the installation of individual heat points, upgrading heat production facilities, improving network for transporting heat "aimed to avoid situations when pipes break and warm air."

"In areas managed by a normal mayor, good manager, we can affirm, they have normal expense structure, fix appropriate tariffs and use alternative sources. There are areas, in which they install hundreds of individual heating units, because they understand people's problems and start to invest basing on the needs. Therefore, in such cities, they consume less, so people pay less", underscored the Head of Government.