The government has reduced debt pressure on some utility companies
The Cabinet of Ministers granted the right to defer debt repayment to heat suppliers and water utilities affected by the war or located in a combat zone.
"The right to debt restructuring will be granted to enterprises whose infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged by the enemy and which are located in the territory of active hostilities," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on his Telegram channel.
According to information from the government representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Taras Melnychuk, at a meeting on Tuesday, December 10, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the criteria for determining heat supply and heat generation organizations, centralized water supply and wastewater enterprises that have the right to defer debt repayment under debt restructuring agreements concluded in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Measures Aimed at Resolving Debts of Heat Supply and Heat Generation Organizations and Centralized Water Supply and Water Sewage Enterprises."
The government decision stipulates that the right to defer repayment of debts under restructuring agreements is granted to heat and power utilities and water utilities whose production capacities are:
● destroyed as a result of military (combat) operations, which does not allow to carry out the main activity in the territory of the relevant region or territorial community;
● suffered destruction or damage as a result of military (combat) operations, which does not allow to carry out the main activity in the territory of the relevant region or territorial community;
● located in the territories of active military (combat) operations, which does not allow to carry out the main activity in the territory of the relevant region or territorial community.
Denys Shmyhal noted that as of now, almost 100% of all facilities — residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens — are connected to heat. At the same time, he named cities that have problems with heat supply.
"The problem areas are Kherson, which is suffering from enemy shelling, and Kryvyi Rih. Active repair and restoration work is underway in these cities," the head of government said in a statement.
By the end of 2023, heat-producing enterprises, condominiums, housing associations, and apartment building managers owed a total of more than UAH 89 billion for gas.
These debts have accumulated for several reasons. The main one is that heating tariffs have not increased since 2018, and therefore have long been unprofitable for thermal power plants. After all, since then, almost all components of the tariff have increased in price: electricity, gas, salaries, materials.
At the same time, at the beginning of the 2023/2024 heating season, the state owed UAH 36 billion to heat supply enterprises, and by the end of the heating season, according to preliminary calculations, this figure may amount to UAH 53 billion, Oleg Garnyk, an expert at the Analytical Center for Housing and Communal Services of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, said in an interview with "Ukrainian Energy".
As reported by "Ukrainian Energy", in May 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Settlement of Accounts Payable of Heat, Water Supply and Sewerage Enterprises."
