Debts for electricity consumed by households in uncontrolled areas in Donbas are estimated at Hr 3.9 billion, head of Donetsk regional military and civilian administration Pavlo Zhebrivsky has said.
“The key problem the government should address is debts in the uncontrolled areas: debts for electricity are Hr 3.9 billion out of Hr 5.6 billion owed by the uncontrolled areas to Ukraine, and we won’t be able to handle the issue without the government’s support,” Zhebrivsky wrote on Facebook on Monday after an intercom meeting with the participation of Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on preparations for the heating season.
He also mentioned the problem of blocking bank accounts of municipal enterprises for “overdue debts.” “Currently, the accounts of Voda Donbassa (Donbas Water) and Kommunenergo have been blocked for penalties and fines,” he said.
Zhebrivsky also announced plans to boost the rate of installation of heat and power meters to 100%. “We’re allocating funds from the regional budget for energy efficiency. Thus, regional Teplokommunenergo [heat supplier] will be fully provided with metering equipment. The same requirement will be put forth for towns and districts. Nowadays, the rate of households’ payment of bills is 111%. When budget-subsidized payments arrive from the state, the rate will be 143%, and it will be over 100% for electricity bills,” he wrote.
In his words, 25% of the Hr 2.6 billion given to the region was injected into the housing and utilities industry. “Most of the funds were spent on energy efficiency, renovation of heating pipe mains, boiler rooms, and others,” he added.
