Kharkiv has accumulated almost UAH 20 billion in debts due to the difference in utility tariffs - Terekhov
Kyiv • UNN
The city of Kharkiv has almost UAH 20 billion in debts due to the difference in tariffs for heat and water supply. This is equivalent to the city's annual budget, which poses a threat to the heating season.
The city of Kharkiv has critical arrears in the difference in tariffs for heat and water supply, which is practically equal to the community's annual budget, and the blocking of enterprises' accounts in frontline cities makes it impossible to stably pass the heating season.
This was stated by Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services, UNN reports.
Details
According to him, only for heating networks, the confirmed difference in tariffs in the city from June 2021 to 2025 is more than 15.8 billion hryvnias. Another approximately 3.9 billion hryvnias falls on the sphere of water supply and sewerage.
Thus, the total amount of debts reaches almost 20 billion hryvnias, which is equal to Kharkiv's annual budget.
The mayor emphasized that the problem of tariff differences has not been resolved for several years, despite the memorandum on its compensation, signed back in 2021.
He also noted that due to hostilities, the city is forced to repair damaged infrastructure, install generation and block-modular boiler houses at its own expense.
According to him, it was such boiler houses that made it possible to provide heat to about 300 multi-story buildings after the destruction of the thermal power plant as a result of shelling.
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Ihor Terekhov emphasized that a similar situation is observed in all frontline cities and communities.
He insists that the difference in tariffs should be covered by the state budget, as local budgets are unable to bear such a financial burden on their own.
The mayor also drew attention to the additional expenses of communities related to salary increases in the public sector, which are not always accompanied by appropriate state support.
In conclusion, he emphasized that without a systemic settlement of the issue of tariff differences and unblocking of accounts of heat and power enterprises, communities risk facing serious problems during the next heating seasons.
Recall
As UNN previously wrote, the total debt for consumed gas exceeds 100 billion hryvnias, more than half of the amount accumulated during the war.