According to him, low temperatures during the first ten days of January clearly reflected Kiev's new energy policy as far as providing the population with heat is concerned.
"The policy's goal is to save more gas by reducing the temperature in the apartments of [Ukrainian] citizens," Korolchyuk said.
He predicted that a frosty weather forecast for the second half of January will again see many Ukrainians spend the day and night in their apartments, where the temperature may plummet to12 degrees Celsius. It will also ride roughshod over kindergartens and schools, as well as hospitals and state-funded organizations.
"The main principle of the government's new energy policy is to reduce gas supplies to heating facilities so as to prevent the temperature in apartments from overcoming the 12-16 degrees threshold," Korolchyuk said.
Korolchyuk's remarks came after Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Vladimir Demchishin hit out at the country's heating networks over excessive gas consumption. He specifically expressed dissatisfaction with the heating enterprises' work under what he described as "not too low temperatures".
