There are no buildings left, but there are bills: an expert revealed the outrageous scheme of utility workers with utility debt.

Ukrainians in occupied cities continue to pay off utility debts until 2023

Utility companies continue to send bills for utilities to Ukrainians in occupied cities such as Mariupol, Severodonetsk, Berdyansk, and Kharkiv Oblast for another two years - until the end of 2023. Oleg Popenko, the head of the Union of Consumers of Utility Services of Ukraine, reported this. According to him, this issue concerns half of the population of the country, particularly those citizens who have housing in occupied territories or lost it due to the conflict.

The expert noted that these debts were not audited and there is no mechanism for their cancellation. Moreover, a significant portion of the debts may be unjustified. This situation can only be resolved with government intervention, but he does not expect this in the near future.

Popenko emphasized that the state is dependent on service supplying companies and monopolists, as they are the donors of the state system. Currently, laws are being created in favor of these companies, rather than for utility service users. The expert added that the number of court proceedings is increasing by 500 thousand, but there are no statistics on how many of them relate to property in occupied territories or illegal payments. Therefore, he urges the state to take action and develop a system that can change the situation.