Houses without gas meters will face higher gas rates than the rest of the population,

Houses without gas meters will face higher gas rates than the rest of the population, under a proposal by the Ministry of Energy and Coal. The measure is part of a wider gas conservation effort that includes low interest loans for insulating Soviet-era houses and apartment buildings. Household gas rates are about one half of industrial rates. Even at the low rates, about half the population receives subsidies to pay their gas bills. Surveys show that households with subsidies use more gas than households that pay market rates.