The heating season in Ukraine may not come this year, residents of the country will freeze in apartments without hot water and heating, REN TV reported on Sunday, May 2, citing the head of Ukrteplokommunenergo Arsentiy Blashchuk.
The regulation, which obliges the supply of gas to public utilities at a special rate, will soon expire, Blashchuk noted. After that, they will have to purchase gaseous fuels at market prices. At the same time, utilities have already large debts, and consumers pay for the use of heat after gas is supplied to their homes.
“Enterprises must [будут] purchase gas on a prepayment basis. And where to get the money, if our consumer pays after having already used hot water and heating. And what should the thermal engineers do? How to pay off debts and buy gas. <…> There may not be a heating season, ”Blashchuk said.
Ukrainian public utilities have debts not only for gas, but also for sewerage. The population can be left not only without heat, but also without sewage. The latter has already lost the Ukrainian city of Vilkovo, which is also known under the informal name “Ukrainian Venice”.
It is noted that if the sewage system installed with the money of the European Union stands in a disconnected state for more than a month, it will no longer be possible to turn it on, and the sewage will remain in Vilkovo.
On April 30, it was reported that since 2014, the price of gas for residents of Ukraine has increased 14 times. Over the past year, the cost of LCD services has grown by 22%. Electricity tariffs increased by 36.6%, natural gas – by 63.6%, hot water and heating – by 10.4%.