The head of the Russian Orthodox Church on Tuesday called soaring utilities tariffs "an outrage" and urged ordinary people to defend their rights.
The highest utility prices growth rates in Russia were registered in the first few months of 2010. In some regions the rates neared 100% for three months. But the quality of housing and communal services often remains poor.
"People don't understand why all housing tariffs are skyrocketing, rising two- or threefold a year when relevant services are not provided," Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said at a meeting of the coordination committee on social, education and other initiatives under the auspices of the Church.
"I asked: how do you react to this outrage?" the patriarch said. "People don't know how to react. They are waiting for a good, smart boss to interfere in this process and help them."
"No smart boss can cope with this task on a national scale unless the people themselves join the process and organize civil society institutions capable of defending their interests," Patriarch Kirill said.
"A real civil society cannot exist without people's desire to make life around them better, to make a personal contribution to the effort to change the social situation," he said.
MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti)
