Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday called on the government and state energy company Naftogaz to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on lowering household gas prices from May 1, ONA reports citing Reuters.
The IMF, which is helping Ukraine with a multi-billion dollar loan program, has said it wants to see gas prices set at their market level.
Zelenskiy, who has yet to take office but won a landslide election victory on Sunday, said in a statement on his team’s Facebook page he wanted prices to be lower.
“Let’s not just in words, but in deeds show that we can take decisions in people’s interests,” the statement said.
“For the past four months, gas prices in Europe have been decreasing and now the price of gas for the population in Ukraine is higher than the price of gas on the European market.”
The same statement warned that neighboring Russia might limit energy supplies to Ukraine from June 1, and that, from Jan. 1, Moscow might move to halt gas transit through Ukraine altogether, a move it said would result in significant financial losses and gas supply risks.
“These challenges require us to take effective and fast action,” the statement said.
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