“Utility bills should show zero charges.” Svyrydenko has instructed officials to look into winter utility costs for Kyiv residents

She made this statement during Question Time in the Verkhovna Rada.

“Where services have not been provided, bills cannot objectively be issued. In such cases, the bills should show zero charges. Let’s check everything for specific addresses; Deputy Prime Minister Kuleba will take care of this. The relevant instruction will be issued after Question Time. There should be no bills for services if the service was not provided. And we have also adopted the relevant decisions,” said the Prime Minister.

As a reminder, as a result of massive Russian strikes on critical infrastructure, half of the high-rise buildings in Kyiv were left without heating this winter, and hundreds of thousands of consumers in the capital and Kyiv region were left without electricity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has instructed the government to prepare a decision that will exempt people who had no heating from paying bills for it.

Back in February, the government instructed utility providers to recalculate charges for heating, water supply and waste collection from 1 January. Utility companies were not to charge for water, heating and waste collection if consumers did not receive these services. Alternatively, they were to charge a lower rate if people received a reduced volume of service or one of inadequate quality.

As a reminder, it was previously reported that Kyiv residents began receiving unfair bills for January heating en masse. Some residents of the capital claim that they had already paid for these services earlier, but have now received duplicate charges. Oleg Popenko, head of the Utility Consumers’ Union, explained why this situation has arisen and whether citizens can appeal against the bills they have received.

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