Water supplying companies might limit water supply due to seizure of accounts for electricity debts

Water supply companies might limit or even stop water supply in case accounts are seized due to accumulated electricity debts.

Dmytro Novytskyi, the president of the Ukrvodokanalekologia association/deputy director general of Kyivvodokanal water supplying company, said this in an interview for the Ekonomichna Pravda online media.

He noted that the accounts of the Zaporizhzhia water-supplying company have already been seized. Still, it continues to work with limited financial capabilities because the legislation does not allow the water-supplying company to be disconnected from electricity.

"The time will come when, for example, the water supply company will not have reagents, and it will be forced to stop water supply because it will not be able to supply water that meets sanitary rules and regulations. Or it will be forced to supply water on an hourly basis. This is one of the crisis steps that such companies do not want to take and will fulfill their obligations to the last. However, the consequences can be felt, that's for sure," Novytskyi added.

He emphasized that water-supplying companies continue to work based on 2021 tariffs despite the increase in components cost, primarily electricity, and the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities has twice canceled its decision to increase tariffs.

As a result, the total losses of water-supplying companies in 2022 amounted to 4.4 billion hryvnias. Therefore water supplying companies simply do not have the funds to pay for electricity and are forced to accumulate debts, which in turn can lead to lawsuits and seizure of accounts.

Novytskyi sees two ways to solve the situation.

Either the authorities still green light an increase in tariffs, which will require an increase in state budget expenditures on subsidies for low-income groups in the amount of UAH 600 million, or it will be necessary to provide subventions directly to the water-supplying companies in the amount of at least UAH 6 billion, that is, pay not only for the poor but also for all consumers.

Novytskyi is sure that the state will be able to find a solution within a few months.

"I am sure that the government will find a solution. We will somehow cope for two or three months. Seven water-supplying companies are no longer paying for electricity. We will also compensate our expenses for the purchase of reagents, wages, and taxes by saving money for paying for electricity. For now, that's right," emphasized the deputy general director of Kyivvodokanal.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in July, the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities set new tariffs for centralized water supply and drainage for 33 water-supplying companies and the Ukrzaliznytsia joint-stock company, while the weighted average increase is 32%.

But later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called this decision shameful, and the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities canceled the decision.