Utility Debts: Who Might Get Their Water and Heat Cut Off and Who Will Get Away with a Fine.

The debt of Kyiv residents for water supply, heating, and sewage has reached 7.5 billion UAH. This was reported by the municipal enterprise "Kyivteploenergo".

The company also warns of possible fines for debtors.

The total debt of Kyiv residents for hot water supply and heating services amounts to over 6.2 billion UAH. The debt for cold water and sewage amounts to about 1.2 billion UAH.

"Almost 4.5 billion of the debt falls on 16% of consumers. About 10% of subscribers did not make any payments for the services consumed during the entire past heating season of 2023/2024", said Konstantin Lopatin, director of the "Energy Supply" subdivision.

About a million personal accounts in the capital accumulate debt and do not apply for restructuring.

Energy expert Yuriy Korolchuk points out different categories of debtors. Some really cannot pay the bills, while others principledly do not pay fines even if they have the money. He also noted that sooner or later tariffs will rise, debts will increase and a deadlock situation will arise.

Among the debtors are owners of several apartments who do not rent them out or temporarily do not live in them due to leaving the city, moving to another city or abroad.

Restructuring of utility debts

For those who cannot fully pay off the debt, "Kyivteploenergo" offers debt restructuring. Over the past six months, 563 restructuring agreements were signed, 344 of which were for hot water supply and heating services. This is twice as many as in the same period last year, said Yulia Petrik, deputy commercial director of the "Center for Communal Services".

Restructuring allows avoiding fines and retaining the right to receive subsidies. However, consumers with debts exceeding three months and more than 680 UAH do not have subsidies credited.

To sign a restructuring agreement, you need to:

• contact any service center;
• without visiting the service center, send documents via messenger on Facebook, Skype, or Telegram, or sign the agreement using the electronic digital signature (EDS);
• provide the specialist with the relevant application in any form;
• add to the application documents: passport (or ID card), taxpayer card (if the TIN is not in the ID card), title document for the apartment, and an extract from the state register of property rights.

Consequences of non-payment

Since December 2023, penalty sanctions for debtors have not been canceled. Consumers must pay a fine for late payments, but no more than 0.01% of the debt amount for each day of delay.

The head of the Union of Consumers of Communal Services, Oleg Popenko, noted that 90% of the housing stock in Ukraine needs major repairs, where heat and water losses amount to 40-50%. He believes that for solving this problem, "hundreds of billions of dollars" are needed.

Experts note that limiting the supply of services to debtors may be the only way out of the situation, but the issue remains open, especially regarding influential individuals.

"People who consider themselves part of the "higher caste" often think they can avoid paying. Whether suppliers can press this "caste" is an open question," he added.