Utility bills: citizens’ biggest concern

The increase in utility bills is the greatest concern of Ukrainians on the eve of the local election campaign, shows a poll carried out by the Institute of Practical Policy. The poll covered the period from August 25 to September 5, and involved respondents from Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, and Kherson. Utility bills were the biggest concern for 58.5 percent of the respondents, reports UKRINFORM, quoting the institutes’s expert Oleksandr Zhuhan. The latter said that 2,000 individuals had been interviewed in each of the cities. Problem number two, according to this poll, is the quality of streets and highways (40.1 percent), followed by waste disposal (35.8 percent), the poor quality of tap water (24.3 percent), and inadequate arrangements for the heating season. Zhuhan believes that solving these problems is a test of strength for all the candidates in the local elections, scheduled for October 31. If they fail to show improvements until then, their ratings will suffer accordingly.