Kyiv residents pay their utility bills in good faith, but the city hall owes Naftogaz more than UAH 20 billion

26 September 2024 13:02

Despite the fact that Kyiv residents pay their bills on time, Kyiv still owes Naftogaz UAH 20.7 billion. The Kyiv authorities now want to restructure part of this debt for 15 years. This was reported to Ekonomichna Pravda by a representative of the state-owned company and a government source, according to "Komersant Ukrainian"

One of the interlocutors noted that a meeting of the Supervisory Board of Naftogaz will be held today to consider the restructuring of part of the debt.

The debt consists of three main parts. The first one is UAH 6.4 billion for gas consumed until 2022, and it is this part that is to be restructured for 15 years. The second part is over UAH 7 billion, which arose due to the difference in tariffs as of 1 July 2024. The third part of the debt – more than UAH 7.2 billion – belongs to Naftogaz Trading and can potentially be settled through amicable agreements with 4-year instalments.

According to the source, the bulk of the debt began to accumulate in 2018. At the same time, government officials do not understand why Kyiv is not paying its bills, as the capital’s residents are paying their utility bills on time.

“Today, Kharkiv and Kyiv are the largest debtors among the cities, and while everything is clear with Kharkiv, because some people have left and utility bills have decreased, in the capital it is the opposite – people live and pay for services. The level of fees fell only in the first months of the war, and then everything levelled off. The question arises: where did these debts come from, and if the Kyiv authorities are not solving them, why are they laying asphalt and paving? In fact, this is happening for the money of Naftogaz,”

– said the representative of the state-owned company.

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Another government source expressed surprise at the 15-year debt restructuring term.

“Why not for 8 or 10 years, for example, why 15 years? There are no good reasons for such a decision, no one has seen them,” he said,

– he added.

The meeting of the Supervisory Board of Naftogaz is scheduled to take place today at 13:00.

As previously reported previously reported, Kyiv is one of the most disciplined cities in Ukraine in terms of paying utility bills, with only 10.3 thousand enforcement proceedings registered here for non-payment. Only 8 regions have fewer violations, but these are regions such as Rivne or Ternopil. The number of residents of their regional centres is incomparably smaller compared to the capital with millions of people.