The Cabinet of Ministers of Belarus on December 30 passed a resolution to charge Belarusians more for gas, heating and electrical energy.
Earlier reports suggested the government would consider the proposal by the Ministry of Economy in the beginning of 2014. However, the resolution was officially published today at the National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus.
The rates applying to the electricity consumed within the established quota increased from 518.9 to 622.7 rubels per kWh for households using electric cookers and from 610.6 to 732.7 rubels for other households.
The electricity rates differentiated by time of day were raised from 427.4 to 512.9 rubels for the period between 10 p.m. to 5 p.m. and from 1,221.2 to 1,465.4 rubels for the period between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. For households using electric cookers, the rates increased from 363.2 to 435.9 rubels and from 1,037.8 to 1,245.4 rubels, respectively.
The price of electricity used for heating purposes was raised from 610.6 to 732.7 rubels per kWh for the period between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. and from 1,831.8 to 2,198.1 rubels for any other time of the day.
The heating and hot water supply rate increased from 75,719.6 to 80,570 rubels for one gigacalorie of heat.
Natural gas supplied to households that have a gas cooker and live in houses connected to a centralized hot water supply system increased in price from 1,466.6 to 1,906.6 rubels per cubic meter.
The gas supply rate for households that do not have a gas meter was raised from 11,750 to 15,250 rubels per tenant a month.
The price of liquefied petroleum gas used as a fuel in heating appliances was raised to 8,070.6 rubels per cubic meter.
The previous increase in the electricity, heating and natural gas supply rates for households occurred on November 1, 2013.
The government raised the electricity rates for households five times in 2013, increasing them by 18 percent on February 1, 15.7 percent on June 1, 14 percent on August 1, 11.8 percent on September 1, and 8.3 percent on November 1, reports BelaPAN.
It is worth reminding that effective from January 1 enterprises in Belarus will pay less for gas and electricity, under the recent resolution of the Belarusian government which sets out lower prices for the real sector of economy.
