Bezlepkin Valeriy Mikhailovich is a leading specialist in the fuel and energy complex and housing and communal services of Ukraine.
Higher education. Master of Public Administration. Held positions: Chairman of the Board of PJSC Kharkivgorgaz, General Director of the Luhansk Energy Association, Commercial Director of JSC Kharkivoblenergo, and OJSC Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo. He currently serves as Director of the Department of Housing and Public Utilities of the Zaporizhzhia City Council.
Let's start with a pressing issue. Everyone in Ukraine knows what's happening in the country. What's your opinion on the current situation in the east and in the country as a whole?
Valery Bezlepkin: The events of the last two years have exacerbated quite serious problems and contradictions in our society, the economy, and all spheres of the country's life.
Society has split into two opposing camps, one of which supports European integration, while the other, the southeastern one, is focused on rapprochement with Russia.
Unfortunately, in the spring of 2014, our country's leaders failed to take control of the situation, to calm and convince their compatriots that radicalism will not pass, that we are a united country, that we have nothing to divide, that we understand each other regardless of what language we speak!
At that moment, radical forces gained the upper hand, but they failed to take into account the mood in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, their political views, and their rejection of the events unfolding in the country. The result was a military conflict that led to the temporary occupation of part of Ukraine. Today, major global players—America, Russia, and the EU—have been drawn into this conflict.
The war in the east revealed existing problems in society, the army, and its "ability" to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity. It's difficult to say how the events of the spring and summer of 2014 would have ended without the strong patriotic spirit of the Ukrainian people. Our government's weakness in making effective political decisions capable of stopping the military conflict and finding the most optimal solutions for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity was exposed.
It's well known that you were one of the first in the country to begin fighting tariff increases. How would you comment on the economic situation and the rationale for raising utility tariffs?
Valeriy Bezlepkin: Extremely negative events are occurring in the Ukrainian economy, leading to stagnation, devaluing the hryvnia, disrupting economic ties, destroying small and medium-sized businesses, and driving a large portion of the country's population into poverty.
Today it is difficult to understand the financial, banking, industrial, energy, and social policies of our government.
As a result, socially vulnerable groups of the population who require state support suffered: pensioners, the poor, and people with disabilities.
Against the backdrop of the above-described events in the country, raising tariffs for gas, electricity, and housing and communal services appears to be an ill-considered step that could have the most negative and unpredictable consequences for both Ukraine and its citizens.
The government's reforms are failing to achieve economic results and are not supported by society. One such example is the reforms in the fuel and energy sector and housing and utilities, which have led to several-fold increases in gas, electricity, and utility tariffs. Neither the government nor the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities (NKREKP) have been able to substantiate such a significant tariff increase, as arguments that this is an IMF requirement, that we don't have sufficient domestic energy resources, and that tariff increases will encourage the population to conserve energy fall flat against the experts' arguments.
What are the consequences of increasing tariffs for the country's population?
Valery Bezlepkin: Such a sharp increase in energy tariffs for households and businesses could have extremely negative and unpredictable consequences. I'd especially like to point out that there was no need to raise tariffs significantly. We have no shortage of domestically produced gas that could be used for household needs, we have sufficient domestically produced electricity, and the IMF's requirements were quite different.
Does the current government understand the consequences of such unpredictable actions? I'm convinced they don't! The looming payment crisis in the fuel and energy sector and housing and utilities will threaten the stable and reliable energy supply to Ukraine's population during the autumn and winter.
Given that the fuel and energy complex is a core sector of Ukraine's economy, the looming problems in the energy sector will push the country's economy to the brink of collapse, with all the ensuing consequences – a decline in production, increased wage and pension arrears, further devaluation of the hryvnia, civil disobedience, and social protests that will further exacerbate existing problems and contradictions in our society.
Today, the Ukrainian people face challenges whose solutions determine the future of our country. If we can find solutions to the current situation, we will save the country. If not, you don't need to be an analyst to understand where this could lead.
What are the ways out of this situation?
Valery Bezlepkin: Carry out genuine de-oligarchization by removing oligarchs and their protégés from the management of state institutions, strategic assets, and monopoly companies. In the current circumstances, the state must become a major and active player in all spheres of the economy and life, abandon agreements with oligarchic financial-industrial groups, and assume responsibility for resolving the accumulated problems in all spheres of activity—from social to military-industrial.
Corruption is a popular question these days. Is there any point in fighting it?
Valeriy Bezlepkin: Today, we can confidently say that corruption is a threat to national security, and without drastic measures, Ukraine is doomed to become a third-world state, with no chance of returning to the elite of global powers. This is the next step in restoring order in Ukraine.
If anyone gets the impression that corruption is impossible to overcome in our country and that bribery is deeply ingrained in our consciousness, they are deeply mistaken.
The political will of the country's top officials and the inevitability of punishment for the country's economic destruction in the shortest possible time are capable of dealing a serious blow to this negative phenomenon, which is destroying the country, corrupting society, and humiliating us as a nation in the eyes of the world community.
What do you think needs to be done to correct this situation?
Valery Bezlepkin: Implementing real economic, judicial, and law enforcement reforms aimed at both improving the economy and combating corruption, removing oligarchs from government, creating new jobs, increasing production, implementing infrastructure projects, implementing effective financial and banking policies, changing tax legislation, and reducing pressure on small and medium-sized businesses as economic drivers will help balance the state budget and move toward addressing social and economic issues, ensuring a decent standard of living for our citizens.
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