OREANDA-NEWS. May 14, 2009. The Government has tackled an issue of returning regional gas companies into the state property. Minister of Fuel and Energy Yurii Prodan announced. According to him, under such conditions the regional gas supply companies will be operating stably and uninterruptedly while the services will be provided at fair tariffs.

“We wish to address the owners who fail to effectively manage the enterprise and cannot ensure appropriate level of social protection of their employees: without delay to take all procedure measures in order to return gas supply networks into the state property. It will enable paying off salaries to the employees of the branch and effective management of gas economy,” the Minister explained.

According to Yurii Prodan, the protest actions of employees of gas companies with a demand to raise tariffs for their services “have been organized by private owners of the regional gas companies among whom are those directly involved into non-transparent schemes that existed in the system of gas supplies to Ukraine”.

“Today protest actions of the employees have little in common with real financial state of the regional gas companies receiving sufficient incomes from their activity but unfortunately failing to direct these resources to manufacturing needs and payment of salaries to their employees,” Yurii Prodan added. It can be confirmed by the fact regional gas companies have failed to transfer to Naftogaz of Ukraine NJSC UAH 2.8 billion only for the first quarter of 2009.

The Minister opined trade unions have to address with this question not the Government, the Ministry or NERC but directly owners of the companies, which was reiterated during the meetings of branch trade unions with the Ministry of Fuel and Energy leadership.

“We appreciate and respect important and responsible activity of employees of the regional gas companies but you should better stand with transparencies and slogans not under the walls of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, but under the windows of the owners of regional gas companies manipulating relations with their labour collectives and trade unions and using them to cover their profits,” Yurii Prodan summed up.

The Minister of Fuel and Energy also reminded the stance of the Government is clear: there are no grounds to raise gas tariffs for the population. Yurii Prodan informed the Cabinet of Ministers will be insistent with the stand also in communications with the National Electricity Regulatory Commission.