Housing and Public Utilities Commission of the Public Council under the Ministry of Construction has proposed to increase the cost of electricity bills, taking into account the ability of citizens to pay. Izvestia writes this, referring to the Council.
“We propose to analyze what should happen in a given region, taking into account the solvent demand of the population when changing tariffs,” said the head of the commission, Irina Bulgakova.
He noted that existing methods make it possible to calculate the percentage of payments from the total income and general expenses of the population, as well as to find out the number of Russians who can pay for housing and communal services without prejudice to normal life.
“If the region has set an electricity tariff that 30 percent or more of the population cannot afford, then there is a problem with the tariffs on this issue,” Bulgakova said.
In this case, you cannot increase the cost of housing and communal services. According to him, the lack of funds for fundraising organizations can be compensated for from the federal budget in the form of subsidies (inter-budget transfers). Bulgakova advised the regional authorities to look for ways to create economic conditions for the improvement of people’s well-being.
In a comment to Izvestia, Pavel Sklyanchuk, an expert from the People’s Front, proposed his own method for determining the prices of a communal apartment – calculating the cost of the consumer basket. Referring to Rosstat’s calculations, the expert emphasized that “20 million people live below the poverty line and only 4 million receive subsidies for housing and social services.”
Associate Professor Susana Kirakosyan from the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation also warned that any mistake in improving the housing and communal services tariffs could have serious socio-economic consequences.
“The proposed differentiated approach, depending on the regional characteristics and the solvency of the population, is the only acceptable approach, especially now when changing the tariff,” believes the Izvestia interlocutor.
Russian debts
In early October, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that the Russians owed 767 billion rubles for housing and communal services. The population of the country must pay the governing organizations 315 billion rubles, which is 1% less than in July 2021. Funding organizations missed out on 452 billion rubles, a year ago consumers owed them 420 billion rubles.
Tatyana Vepretskaya, head of the National Housing Congress, believes that debt will continue to increase if the solvency of the population is not taken into account.
In turn, Yegor Klopenko, founder of the investment company Klopenko Group, is sure that it is in vain to take into account the different solvency of the Russians. Prices for housing and communal services should be based on the property served.
indexing
Until now, only inflation was taken into account when changing tariffs for housing and communal services. The Russian authorities planned to index the housing and communal services tariffs on July 1, 2023, but later postponed it to December 1, 2022.
In response to a request from Izvestiya, the Ministry of Construction said that the increase in tariffs for utilities was limited to 9%. According to Rosstat, the real index is even less – at the level of 6.5% – 7.87%.
“The cost change will affect cold and hot water, electricity, heat, gas and municipal solid waste. The Ministry of Economic Development said that from December 1, 2022, the maximum indexation level of tariffs for housing and communal services for the population of the country cannot exceed 9%.
The ministry called such measures “the need to ensure the uninterrupted operation and development of housing and communal services infrastructure throughout the country in order to maintain the provision of high-quality housing and communal services for the population”.
The Ministry of Construction reminded that there are a number of support measures for the payment of electricity bills: bills for certain categories of citizens (retirees, war veterans, extended families, etc.) range from 22% of the total family budget.
This year was already the second indexation. The first occurred at an average rate of 4% as of 1 July. At the same time, the FAS monitors compliance with the prescribed rule of not raising prices for housing and communal services more than the inflation rate.
»FAS Russia will check compliance with approved limit indices and will not allow unreasonable growth. The rate of change in the payment of citizens for utilities is a tightly controlled parameter at the federal and regional levels.
At the same time, in each region, the government of the subject independently decides on the changes. In most regions of Russia, the increase in tariffs for utilities – electricity, water, gas, heat – since December 1 amounted to 8.5%. However, some regions were able to control price increases to some extent. According to TASS, residents of Sakhalin pay 5.5% more for a communal apartment in the Murmansk region – the marginal increase is about 6.3%. At the end of November, annual inflation was 12.05%.
The next recalculation of service tariffs is scheduled for July 1, 2024.
Source: Gazeta
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.