Kyiv residents are receiving unfair heating bills for January en masse: an expert explains what to do

In June, residents of Kyiv began receiving mass notifications regarding outstanding heating bills for January.

According to comments from users on social media, most Ukrainians received bills ranging from 1,300 to 3,500 hryvnias, despite the fact that their radiators were mostly cold in January. Moreover, Ukrainians point out that they had already paid for January’s services in March – and have now received duplicate charges.

Oleg Popenko, head of the Utility Consumers’ Union, explained why this situation has arisen and whether citizens can dispute the bills they have received. According to him, the situation requires detailed consideration.

"If we look at the statements from Kyivteploenergo and the Kyiv City State Administration in January and February, they said there would be a recalculation in March, when the final heating payment was due. And there was a recalculation in the March bills. There was an additional charge," the expert noted.

Kyivteploenergo itself explained the new charges as a result of Russian shelling of energy infrastructure, as well as the fact that the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution, which allowed them to carry out the recalculation, only came into force in May. However, Popenko disagrees with this.

"If we look at the January-February period, the recalculation resolution was in place and had already been implemented," he says.

Furthermore, according to the head of the Utility Consumers’ Union, the question of the amount of the charges remains unresolved.

"Why did most Kyiv residents receive the same bills – around a thousand hryvnias? After all, there are one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom flats (Ed. note). The charges there should be completely different," notes the expert.

He says the system that allows heating companies to charge additional fees needs to be addressed. Popenko recalled that in 2023, residents of Kharkiv and Kyiv faced a very similar situation.

What bill recipients should do – expert advice

Popenko recommends that Kyiv residents who have received unfair bills should carefully examine the situation and not rush to pay.

"You should make an enquiry to Kyivteploenergo regarding the legality of these charges. Do not pay for the time being, but obtain confirmation of these charges – for what floor area, for how many days, and what the heat meter readings are. It is wrong to charge just like that. The meter readings for a specific period must be specified,” says Oleg Popenko.

Some consumers have faced double charges, but according to the expert, this is common practice in Ukraine.

"Double bills are standard practice across Ukraine. There are hundreds of violations by heat supply companies. We have double gas bills; it’s a huge problem. At its core lies Resolution 315, which allows water and heating utilities to do whatever they like without consulting consumers,” added Popenko.

What Kyivteploenergo says

Meanwhile, Kyivteploenergo itself claims that the company has reduced the cost of heating services provided in January 2026 for 99% of consumers.

"This concerns over 1 million flats. The automatic recalculation was carried out in accordance with the algorithm approved by Resolution No. 683 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which came into force in May 2026. It takes into account periods of service interruption and the failure of the heat transfer medium to meet quality standards. The total discount for consumers amounted to over 720 million UAH, or an average of almost 40%," the company wrote on its Facebook page.

They emphasise that the duration of the heat supply outage varied for each building.

"Under conditions of stable, normal operation of heat sources and the absence of emergency situations caused by shelling, the total amount of charges in the capital would have amounted to over 1.85 billion UAH, given the low average daily air temperature. The actual amount of heating charges in January was 1.13 billion hryvnias. Kyiv residents received a total discount of 720 million hryvnias, meaning the cost of the service fell by 40%," they added.

However, Ukrainians disagree with this.

Consumer comments

Following the arrival of the new bills, social media users began actively discussing the situation.

Some Kyiv residents claim they had already paid for January’s services earlier, but have now received duplicate bills. This has sparked a wave of outrage.

"The bill for January, which arrived in February, was the same amount as the December bill. The January bill had been paid. Furthermore, the bills at the time included a note stating that the amount for January would be recalculated for the days when the service was not provided and adjusted downwards. By simple logic, there should have been an overpayment on the part of the consumer, which would have been taken into account in the first bill after the start of the heating season. Now a bill has arrived showing the amount of 1,300 UAH for January again. Please explain the logic behind this calculation,” wrote user Fedir Lysenko.

Other Ukrainians are wondering why they have to pay for services during a period when they were barely available.

"In January, the heating was on for maybe 3-4 days; in April, I received a bill for 900 UAH for January, which I paid, and now another 1,000 UAH???" – Yulia Stepanets exclaims indignantly.

"I’ve just been charged more for January than I paid in the whole of winter. And for what? Because I had no heating for half a month? Are you taking the mickey?" asks Maria Bobir.

Citizens also claim they have no intention of paying these fabricated debts.

"I’m not going to pay your bills, which have been issued twice for January. That debt will just hang there. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Nobody’s going to take someone to court over such a small amount," writes Natalia Shuban.

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