Ukraine's government today announced plans to hike the price of natural gas for domestic consumers by 50 per cent, meeting a key loan condition set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but drawing immediate criticism from the opposition, according to dpa. Ukraine's National Committee for the Formation of Energy Prices made the intended spike public on its website. The hike would increase an average monthly gas bill in Ukraine from approximately 10 dollars to 15 dollars - a significant sum for Ukrainians earning an average salary of 200 to 300 dollars a month. The price increase would also be felt by energy-inefficient heavy industry, particularly state-owned ore extraction and chemical manufacturing companies employing tens of thousands in Ukraine's Russian-speaking east. Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of Ukraine's opposition, told the Interfax news agency she would oppose the price rise in courts and with street demonstrations if necessary. "If, God forbid, they (Ukraine's government) put the price hikes into effect, then we will fight in the courts," Tymoshenko said. "We will battle to protect people from being hung by the neck by gas (prices)," she said. IMF officials in talks in Kiev last week identified rises in Ukrainian retail energy prices, currently widely subsidized by the government, and imposition of a maximum 5-per-cent budget deficit limit as pre-conditions for the cash-strapped former Soviet country to receive some 11.9 billion dollars in financial assistance.
