Translated by Ollie Richardson & Angelina Siard
13:33:22
22/10/2018
rusvesna.su
In the Ukrainian segment of the Internet an interview with the former president of the country Viktor Yanukovych, dated November 26th, 2013, is gaining popularity.
Five days after the protest actions on Maidan that ended in a coup d’etat in the country had begun, the then president of Ukraine reminded journalists about the unreasonable demands that the IMF put forward as a condition for signing the agreement on association with the EU.
As a reminder, Yanukovych’s refusal to sign this document became a formal pretext to start the protest actions.
“The International Monetary Fund says ‘raise tariffs for the population and freeze salaries and pensions’. Are you suggesting that we do this? I will never do it,” said Viktor Yanukovych (see video below).
These words of the former president became again relevant in Ukraine in connection with the latest increase in gas tariffs, which the Cabinet of Ministers unanimously approved on October 19th. From November 1st of this year fuel will be sold both to citizens and boiler houses for 8550 hryvnia per 1,000 cubic meters – it will be 23.5% more than it currently is. Such an increase in tariffs for gas will in turn lead to an increase in prices for heating and hot water.
Also, in connection with the increase in gas prices, Internet users remembered about the demand of Maidan that was read out by Arseniy Yatsenyuk on December 17th, 2013. Back then he called on the authorities, and Yanukovych specifically, to lower tariffs by 30%.
“Viktor Yanukovych, if the price of gas is reduced by 30%, we demand that all tariffs are reduced by 30% due to the decrease in the price of gas,” said Yatsenyuk.
As a reminder, after Yatsenyuk became Prime Minister, like his successor Vladimir Groisman, tariffs for housing and communal services in Ukraine regularly grew — as one of the conditions of the continuation of cooperation with the IMF.
As a result, since then the price of heat grew by more than 1000%, and gas prices — by 960%.
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