Central government should be involved in preparing Kyiv for winter not only by providing funding but also by carrying out work — Klitschko

The central government has stepped back from efforts to prepare the capital for winter; the government will focus solely on establishing a backup heat supply in the TPP-4 area. Mayor Vitali Klitschko made this statement during a session of the Kyiv City Council.

"The state has made a promise, and Kyiv has an agreement with the government regarding the priority of energy resilience measures. Implementation will cost about UAH 30 billion. It was also agreed that funding for the measures and the work would be split 50/50 between the city and the state. Now the government has told us that this is solely about funding. It will have virtually no involvement in the actual work. The State Agency for the Restoration and Development of Ukraine’s Infrastructure will be responsible for establishing a backup heat supply only in the TPP-4 area. Everything else—the construction of cogeneration facilities, backup power systems, and backup heat supply systems—must be done by the city on its own,” Vitali Klitschko stated.

At the same time, the mayor of Kyiv emphasized that state involvement is necessary, which is why he insists on the fulfillment of previous agreements with the government.

“But we understand that this is not enough for Kyiv. And it is unrealistic for the city to do everything on its own, without the state’s involvement! We insist that the government fulfill its prior agreements. Because there must be a state-oriented approach—not political foot-dragging! We have made changes that further detail the plan’s measures and optimize project costs. With a priority specifically on the upcoming heating season. And, importantly, they specify the city’s and the state’s participation—both in financing and in carrying out the work—on a 50/50 basis,” Vitali Klitschko emphasized.

He also spoke about what has already been accomplished in the capital as part of the Resilience Plan.

“We are doing everything we can today. In particular, we have already installed three diesel generator sets with a capacity of over 15 MW, which will ensure an uninterrupted power supply to water supply facilities. In total, this year we plan to provide about 40 MW of reserve capacity for water supply systems. Construction of new distributed cogeneration facilities with a capacity of 45 MW has been completed. Another 100 MW of capacity is currently under development. In total, we should receive about 200 MW of additional cogeneration capacity this year,” said the mayor of Kyiv.

In addition, Vitali Klitschko announced that the Kyiv City Council will secure UAH 2.5 billion in loans from Oschadbank and EUR 50 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to finance measures under the capital’s Resilience Plan.

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