Tymoshenko Renews Pledge To Halve Gas Prices For Ukrainians In Event Of Election Victory

Ukrainian presidential hopeful Yulia Tymoshenko, the head of the pro-European party Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) and the country's former prime minister, renewed on Monday her pledge to reduce gas prices for Ukrainian households by 50 percent if she wins the upcoming presidential election

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2018) Ukrainian presidential hopeful Yulia Tymoshenko, the head of the pro-European party Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) and the country's former prime minister, renewed on Monday her pledge to reduce gas prices for Ukrainian households by 50 percent if she wins the upcoming presidential election.

The presidential election in Ukraine will be held in late March 2019. Though the campaign officially starts in late December, certain candidates, including Tymoshenko, have already announced their plans to run for the presidency. Tymoshenko has also pledged to cancel all taxes for Ukrainians working abroad if she wins.

"I guarantee that prices will be reduced by at least twofold," Tymoshenko said in a video posted on her Facebook page.

In the video she also explained why it was possible to reduce the prices. Tymoshenko stipulated that Ukrainian state companies produced more gas than the population actually needed. While the real price of gas amounts to 3.55 hryvnias ($0.13) per cubic meter, with taxes and shipping costs taken into consideration, Ukrainian people are paying 8.55 hryvnias per cubic meter of gas.

On October 19, the Ukrainian government approved a 23.5 percent increase in gas prices for households starting November 1, in line with the requirements of the International Monetary Fund under its financial support scheme. The new price is 8,500 hryvnias (over $300) per 1,000 cubic meters.

Tymoshenko previously pledged to cut gas prices on November 23.