During the last winter, heat and communal energy companies in Ukraine accumulated debts for consumed natural gas amounting to 20 billion UAH. This was stated by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko during the hour of questions to the government in the Verkhovna Rada.
This is reported by Finway
Increase in debt and the need for regulation
“Overall, the debts of heat and communal energy companies are rising. This winter, debts increased by 20 billion UAH. This is an issue that will require, among other things, legislative regulation”
According to her, the situation with the accumulation of debts requires resolution at the legislative level to ensure the financial stability of enterprises and uninterrupted supply of heat and energy to the population.
Situation in Kharkiv and the region
First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal emphasized that residents of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region demonstrate a high level of payment for communal services — 98%. However, communal enterprises in the region still have significant debts: nearly 8 billion UAH for electricity and 23 billion UAH for gas. These are the largest amounts among all debts to state companies.
The Mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, noted that the stated amounts of debt do not reflect the real situation, as the city is located in a frontline zone and therefore cannot fulfill financial obligations in full, as it was during peacetime.
According to data, heat and communal energy enterprises in the Kharkiv region owe 27.3 billion UAH for gas. The largest portion of this amount — 16.83 billion UAH — is owed to “Naftogaz Trading”; another 9.38 billion UAH is owed to “Naftogaz of Ukraine”; and 1.11 billion UAH is the debt to “Naftogaz” that arose before 2021.
Additionally, water supply and sewage enterprises in the region have debts for electricity amounting to 4.55 billion UAH, of which 4.5 billion UAH is the debt of “Kharkivvodokanal”. Separately, there is an accumulated debt of 1.1 billion UAH for electricity distribution, most of which also belongs to “Kharkivvodokanal”. The population of Kharkiv region owes communal enterprises 9.44 billion UAH, while the total debt of citizens of Ukraine to communal enterprises amounts to 36.7 billion UAH.
In the field of communal energy, experts note that Kharkiv has certain preferences compared to other cities for political reasons. However, in the event of a response from national regulators and the Ministry of Energy, the chain debt could lead to the blocking of accounts of communal enterprises and create a risk of collapse in the provision of services to the population.