The cost of water supply for Ukrainians will increase in different ways. What Popenko said: Some water utilities have already increased water tariffs for Ukrainians
The water tariff is affected by the increase in the cost of electricity
The government level is unlikely to make a decision on increasing tariffs
In Ukraine, in small cities since 2023, water utilities have begun to increase tariffs for water supply services.
According to him, it is a standard practice that local executive committees make decisions on increasing tariffs for the population. The reason for this is the increase in the cost of electricity.
“Today, the cost of electricity on the market has increased by 70% compared to last year. Not all local authorities can compensate for this difference from local budgets, so they are forced to increase tariffs for the population,” Popenko explained.
In addition, the level of tariff increases depends on other factors, such as the number of subscribers, the length and technical condition of networks, the date of their construction, etc. The fewer consumers, the more expensive the cost of services.
“It is necessary to understand that the majority of water utilities with the number of subscribers up to 70-80 thousand are unprofitable – their tariffs physically do not cover the cost of services. And if market tariffs are set for such water utilities, the prices will be 7-8 times higher than the average. For example, with an average tariff of 40-50 UAH, the real economically justified price for small water utilities is 100-200 UAH. It is clear that most consumers simply will not be able to pay such amounts,” added the head of the Union of Consumers of Public Utilities.
Therefore, each small water utility has its own specifics and some local authorities, when making decisions on increases, also take into account the need to finance major repairs. At the same time, there is no clear “fork” for the increase.
For example, in the city of Malyn, in Zhytomyr region, water tariffs were increased to 100 hryvnias, while in some settlements of Kyiv region the tariff increased from 30 to 80 hryvnias. At the same time, residents of Nikopol, Marganets and Pokrov pay for water at tariffs of up to 124-130 hryvnias.
“This indicates that everything depends on the economic situation and decisions of local authorities – some act cautiously, some more radically. However, the situation is different in regional water utilities – there have not been any tariff increases since 2022. And here the problem is not only economic, but also political. Water utilities have long been declaring the need to increase tariffs, since the existing ones do not cover the costs, since neither local nor regional budgets are always able to provide the necessary compensation,” Popenko noted.
But the problem is that the National Commission for the Regulation of Energy and Utilities and the Cabinet of Ministers are currently not ready to make decisions on increasing tariffs at the national level. And, most likely, there will be none, so it is unlikely that large water utilities will be able to raise tariffs this year.
Increase in utility tariffs in Ukraine
Recall that earlier Oleg Popenko warned that gas tariffs in Ukraine could increase as early as the summer of 2025. The new price of gas for consumers could increase to UAH 9.5-10 per cubic meter.
The day before, an expert from the Institute of Energy Strategies, Yuriy Korolchuk, also warned that a moratorium on raising tariffs for cold and hot water is still in effect in Ukraine, but this may change in the near future.
