Ukraine's Ex-Prime Minister Calls On President To Abolish Gas Price Hike

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, who has announced her plans to run in the presidential race, called on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to stop the "genocide of Ukrainians" and cancel the planned increase in gas prices for households.

On Friday, the Ukrainian cabinet approved the hike of 23.5 percent in gas prices for household starting November 1 in line with the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under its financial support scheme. The new price will be 8,500 hryvnias (over $300) per cubic meter.

"I am saying this to the president. Stop this genocide of the Ukrainian people. End you greed of making money at the cost of people's grief," Timoshenko said in a statement published on her website on Friday.

The politician also called on Ukrainian lawmakers to hold emergency parliamentary sessions and urge the president to cancel the gas price hike.

Kiev has been receiving loans as part of the IMF's $17.5 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) assistance package. The loans, which are part of a four-year program aimed at reviving the Ukrainian economy, were approved by the IMF back in 2015 and are conditioned on Kiev implementing reforms aimed at improving the economy and the rule of law in the country.

The IMF announced on Friday it had agreed with Ukraine on a $3.9 billion stand-by agreement (SBA) for 2019.