Lviv electric transport paralyzed (05/21/00)

Lviv electric transport paralyzed

RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report

PRAGUE - At 4 p.m. on May 4 the LvivOblEnerho company, which supplies electricity in the region, cut off the power supply to the LvivElektroTrans company, which manages trams and trolleys in Lviv.

As a result, the city's electricity-driven transport ground to a halt. This was the first such occurrence in the city in the last 100 years, Interfax noted.

LvivElektroTrans owes 2.44 million hrv ($450,000) to LvivOblEnerho for electricity. The latter's move reflects a harsher approach to those not paying for electricity supplies, as announced by Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Ms. Tymoshenko said that the government on May 3 resolved "to abolish all restrictions" on cutting off debtors from energy supplies. She added that neither hospitals and kindergartens, nor military facilities have been spared from this move. "Electricity, heat and gas are commodities like any other, and one needs to pay for them," Interfax quoted her as saying.

According to Ms. Tymoshenko, 150-200 million hrv is lost every month in shadow sector electricity sales. She added that this explains the resistance to reform in the energy sector among its top officials.

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