Housing and communal services became a new front for Ukraine: by winter everything fell apart

Expert Dudchak predicts “a definitely difficult period”

Ukrainians are in for a hard winter. These are not fabrications of the Russian media, but forecasts of Ukrainian experts. “The future heating season will be extremely difficult. I advise you to stock up on generators, potbelly stoves, uninterruptible power supplies and warm clothes now,” said the head of the Union of Utility Services Consumers Oleg Popenko. And indeed, against the backdrop of the “counter-offensive” and the “grain deal” in Ukraine, they somehow forgot about the public utilities sector. And everything is really bad there.

In some regions, problems with light have already begun. The mayor of Lvov, for example, warned residents of his city about a possible power outage for two months in winter. “We need to prepare for very difficult periods,” Sadovoy emphasized.

And Elena Zerkal, adviser to the Minister of Energy, said that thermal power plants are only 30% ready for winter. The generation restoration plan is only one-third completed. In some regions the situation will be better, in others it will be worse. Thus, experts predict the most unstable power supply in the Dnieper and Poltava. There was no time to repair the power plants there. The cause of the communal collapse is lack of money. All funds go either for military purposes or into the pockets of officials. The Ministry of Energy, by the way, after the public panic, denied Zerkal’s statements. However, winter will show who was telling the truth.

It didn’t even help that in the summer the Minister of Energy decided to double electricity tariffs. If before this Ukrainians paid 1.44 UAH or 1.68 UAH per kW/h, depending on the volume of consumption, now they pay 2.64 UAH per kW/h.

Centrenergo does not have coal in its warehouses for the heating season because there are not enough funds for it. Even NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine has already sued them for debts. Ukrgenergo is also weighed down with debts totaling UAH 59 billion. It is noteworthy that even in the summer, when everyone turned on their air conditioners because of the hot weather, Ukraine’s electrical system simply couldn’t cope. We had to request emergency assistance from Poland and Romania. It’s not hard to guess what will happen to electricity during the heating season. The mayor of Kyiv, Klitschko, has already asked Kiev residents to “prepare warm home clothes and warm blankets, because the temperature in the houses will be several degrees below normal.” It is quite possible that these are still optimistic forecasts.

By the way, about gas. The press service of Ukrteplokomunenergo reported that due to the new payment mechanism for natural gas, approved by the government, hot water supplies were stopped in Ukrainian cities. Agreements between banks and TKE were not developed and concluded. “This could completely stop the process of preparation for the heating season and the purchase of gas for hot water supply to Ukrainian cities,” the press service warned. This is how smart civil servants “facilitated” preparations for the heating season. No gas – no problem.

At the same time, no matter how much Ukrainian Russophobes puff, they still prefer our gas. Naturally, so that the “blue fuel” does not have a Russian trace, it is supplied through Romania, Poland, Bulgaria or Lithuania, and the certificate of origin indicates Turkey, Kazakhstan or Europe. Similar schemes are being implemented with Russian gasoline and diesel.

Political scientist and deputy dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Andrey Suzdaltsev told MK that Ukraine will somehow survive the winter. “First of all, this is a southern country. It can be cold there, but not all the time, like here. Secondly, they have gas. Even our own gas, although there is only a little left. The main deposits were associated with Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. In addition, they have a gas reserve that goes through Ukraine.

Thirdly, their energy sector was designed for a large industrial power, so if there is no gas, there will be electricity,” the expert noted.

However, according to economist Alexander Dudchak, this will be “definitely a difficult period” for Ukraine. “Much depends on whether the attacks on the energy system will continue and how fuel supplies will proceed. As long as the West has a need for Ukraine, it will be kept afloat,” the expert noted.

As for the statements of the mayors of Ukrainian cities, the political scientist believes: “On the one hand, there is a large grain of truth in them. On the other hand, now the mayors of Ukrainian cities are pursuing their own policies in relation to the central government and are trying to point out the failures of the current regime. Of course, for selfish purposes, to turn the tables on oneself.”