In June, more than a million apartments in Kyiv fell under a large-scale recalculation of heating payments for January 2026, as a result of which some residents received unexpected payments of hundreds and thousands of hryvnias. If the Antimonopoly Committee recognizes individual charges as unfounded, the resulting financial hole may reach hundreds of millions of hryvnias, which will have to be covered from the city or state budget. As OBOZ.UA writes, this was stated by former presidential advisor Oleg Ustenko in a media comment. The PromPolitInform portal reports.
According to him, the indignation of the townspeople was caused not only by the additional charges, but also by the fact that the payment documents arrived several months after the end of the heating season.
Many consumers reported repeated bills for already paid services or additional amounts for heat, which was actually not supplied in full due to accidents and outages. In some cases, the amounts were significant, which became an unexpected financial burden for families.
After a wave of complaints, the issue reached the government level. Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko stated that the situation requires a detailed study, and in cases where the service was not provided, the charges should be zero.
The utility company assures that these are not new payments, but a large-scale recalculation, which was carried out in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 683. According to the company, the new tariff adjustment mechanism began to operate only in May 2026, so it was impossible to make the relevant calculations earlier.
The company claims that the recalculation covered more than a million apartments in the capital. According to official data, for 99% of consumers it allegedly led to a decrease in charges by an average of 40%, and the total amount of the adjustment exceeded 720 million hryvnias.
According to Ustenko, the situation requires an independent analysis. According to him, the Antimonopoly Committee has the authority to check not only the payments themselves, but also the economic justification of the tariffs. During such an inspection, the company’s expenses, the structure of the cost of heat supply, the use of funds and the real costs of producing and transporting thermal energy for Kyiv residents can be analyzed.
The expert believes that the inspection will allow us to establish how legal and economically justified the additional charges were, which caused mass consumer dissatisfaction. At the same time, Ustenko warns that even if part of the charges are canceled, the situation will not be finally resolved.
According to Ustenko, if the monopoly enterprise does not receive funds from consumers, a significant financial deficit will form. It will have to be covered either at the expense of the Kyiv city budget or at the expense of the state budget.
In the current economic conditions, finding additional billions of hryvnias will not be easy, especially given the significant state spending on defense and social support for the population. The economist does not rule out that due to a lack of funds, the state may face an increase in debt to enterprises, which will resemble the problems typical of the 1990s.
Kyivteploenergo reminds that January 2026 was one of the most difficult months for the capital’s heat supply system. Due to severe frosts and the consequences of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, more than 1,200 damages to heating networks were recorded. Emergency crews worked in an intensified mode, but it was not possible to completely avoid interruptions in heat supply.
Currently, the situation remains under the control of the government and local authorities. In case of confirmation of errors or unjustified additional charges, residents are promised to conduct additional calculations.
As previously reported, Ukrainians have begun to pay bills for housing and communal services (HCS) more conscientiously. However, the total amount of debt still exceeds UAH 100 billion, and the largest amount of the population is guilty of heating and hot water – almost UAH 39.8 billion.
