in some regions rates above established norms or for buildings without metering system are higher according to official data sanitation is the only municipal utility subsector since where the increase in user tariffs has matched inflation figure it is worth noting that nationwide tariffs on central district heating have been falling in real terms for almost years this partly reflects authorities concern with the social impact of insufficient heating in kazakhstan s harsh climate according to the oecd b rates for district heating in kazakhstan are lower than in central and eastern european countries table this is largely explained by low fuel price mainly low coal prices but also by insufficient or inexistent coverage of capital expenditures in heating tariffs as noted above