The government proposed to merge housing and communal services enterprises

After the dismissal of officials in charge of the housing and communal services sector, the government began a large-scale reform of the utility market. The Cabinet of Ministers proposed to unite all water utilities and heating utilities within the regions and introduce a uniform tariff for their services throughout the country. Market participants believe that the consolidation of its players will complicate the flow of investment into this industry, and the main burden of subsidizing water consumption in arid areas will fall on consumers in other regions.

First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Klyuev, who oversees the housing and communal services industry, yesterday announced details of the plan to reorganize the housing and communal services market. Thus, in each region they intend to create regional companies responsible for the provision of heat and water supply services. “There will be two companies in each region. We will unite all heat supply organizations into one, which will be a service provider, and we will do the same with water utilities,” said Mr. Klyuev. “This has not yet been approved, but most likely it will be so. This will simplify the management of the industry.” .

The regulator, the National Commission for Regulation of the Utility Services Market, which will be created by the end of June, will set tariffs in regional companies and check the quality of services. “We are faced with a shortage of specialists in the industry. A competition is currently being held to select them,” noted the Deputy Prime Minister. The government has been trying to create a regulator since July 2010, while its functions are assigned to the National Electricity Regulatory Commission.

With the start of the heating season, the regulator will have to control the transition to uniform tariffs for housing and communal services throughout the country. The mechanism for calculating them will change. According to Andrey Klyuev, this will affect all 18 housing and communal services, primarily tariffs for hot and cold water supply, thermal energy and cleaning of local areas. “If in some regions the cost of the service exceeds the established level, we will compensate for the difference. First of all, this concerns the water tariff. According to preliminary calculations, the volume of payments could amount to UAH 800-900 million per year,” the official said. Enterprises will receive this compensation from the state budget from 2012. Mr. Klyuev is confident that the introduction of a single tariff will not lead to an increase in prices for housing and communal services: “The government will not increase tariffs. We will increase them only in cases of extreme necessity. Now all efforts will focus on reducing the cost of services.” In 2010, UAH 14.257 billion was charged to the population for heat and water supply services.

The Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services told Kommersant that they are already puzzled by the development of a new tariff setting methodology. "There are two approaches to setting tariffs. One of them takes into account costs and profitability - this is how tariffs are formed now. The other proposes to include an investment component in the tariff, but this means an increase in the tariff. And we need to come up with a mechanism that will reduce the cost of the service. With today's With energy prices and enterprise debts, this is very difficult,” a source in the department told Kommersant.

Market participants are skeptical about government initiatives. “It is unrealistic to introduce equal tariffs for water. Each region has its own difficulties with transportation and supply of water. A single tariff will not cover the cost of services in drier regions of the country. Compensation from the budget will not be enough, so the difference will be covered by more successful enterprises,”— noted the director of the Vinnitsavodokanal enterprise Vasily Sekar. “The merger of enterprises into one company and the introduction of a single tariff will lead to the fact that we will not be able to attract investments, the price of the service will be lower than cost, and there will not be enough funds for subsidies in the budget for everyone. Tariffs in the southern regions are two to three times higher than in the capital and central regions,” a Kommersant source at the Odessavodokanal enterprise told Kommersant.

Experts are confident that the government’s initiative will lead to an even greater monopolization of the industry, which will make attracting private investment impossible. “It will be possible to unite water utilities on the principle of oblenergos and oblgases, taking into account the introduction of a single tariff, only if they are liquidated as legal entities and the creation of a common accounting department. Obviously, it will become almost impossible for an investor to obtain a concession or lease of an enterprise, since everything will be decided by the heads of regional companies, pursuing their own interests,” says Sergei Bulbas, president of the All-Ukrainian Organization of Private Investors in Housing and Public Utilities. “I think it will be possible to introduce uniform tariffs only within the regions, and in those cities that are closer to water bodies, the population will pay more for water.”

Maria Tsaturyan

Thermal utilities will be supplied with water