Household gas prices will remain unchanged until Sept. 1,

Household gas prices will remain unchanged until Sept. 1, the Cabinet of Ministers decided Thursday. The government is seeking to find a formula for raising prices to market levels, a plan that will satisfy the IMF and prove politically palatable before the March 2019 presidential election. Timothy Ash writes: “This needs to get done for $4bn+ in official Western financing to be delivered this side of elections…$4bn will go a long way in pre-election pork barreling. Given Poroshenko’s poll ratings, he certainly needs a kicker to ensure he gets into any second round run off contest, likely with Tymoshenko.”