"Power outages and account freezes": Ukrainian municipalities howl at the new reality
Every Ukrainian region could be cut off from power today based on unclear decisions. Oleh Slobozhan, executive director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities, announced this on the Espereso TV channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The guest on the show explained that municipalities have not been raising heating and water tariffs for residents since 2021, and are covering these increases at their own expense.
The central government pledged to cover the difference, as stipulated in the adopted law, but has yet to do so . He says that in 2022 alone, 130 lawsuits were filed against utility companies for late delivery of heat and water, which leads to accounts being frozen.
"Municipalities are forced to file lawsuits to protect citizens' rights to public services," Slobodian complained.
At the same time, the national regulator decided to change the established rules and proposed disconnecting critical infrastructure facilities from power supply regardless of court decisions.
"While previously a citizen or municipality could protect themselves in court from unlawful disconnections, this is now being proposed to be eliminated, and every municipality , regardless of whether it's Uzhhorod, Lviv, Kharkiv, Kherson, or Chernihiv, could be disconnected based on an incomprehensible decision by who knows who ," Slobodian concluded.
"Power outages and account freezes": Ukrainian municipalities howl at the new reality