ENERGY PRICES, TARIFFS, TAXES AND SUBSIDIES IN UKRAINE

摘要

For many years, electricity, gas and district heating tariffs for residential consumers were very low in Ukraine; until recently, they were even lower than in neighbouring countries such as Russia. The increases in gas and electricity tariffs, implemented in 2006, are an important step toward sustainable pricing levels; however, electricity and natural gas (especially for households) are still priced below the long-run marginal cost. The problem seems even more serious in district heating and nuclear power. According to the Ministry of Construction, district heating tariffs, on average, cover about 80 percent of costs. Current electricity prices do not fully include the capital costs of power stations, which are particularly high for nuclear power. Although the tariff for nuclear electricity generation includes a small decommissioning charge, it has not been sufficient to accumulate necessary funds for nuclear plants decommissioning. Despite some progress with price liberalisation in the early 1990s, real prices for energy actually declined from 2000-05. While inflation (the producer price index) grew by 47 percent from 2001-04, prices for electricity, natural gas and heating grew only by 22 percent over the same period. The sharp growth in price for gas imports in 2006 made an increase of domestic prices unavoidable. The National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) raised gas prices for various consumer groups by 25 percent from May 2006, and by a further 80-85 percent from July 2006. NERC is also gradually raising electricity tariffs with the intention of reaching cost-recovery levels by 2008. At the same time, the government limited the growth of residential gas and electricity tariffs in the Fall of 2006, ostensibly to protect the poorest half of the population.