Ukrainians continue to receive payments for utility services despite the destruction of their homes and active hostilities, even in cases where their homes are completely destroyed or the territories remain under occupation. Housing and communal services expert Oleg Popenko, head of the Union of Consumers of Communal Services, released this information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that charging debts in destroyed houses has become commonplace. For example, in Kryvyi Rih, electricity bills have been brought to a home that has lost its walls over the past two years, leaving them on the fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A similar situation was observed in the Kharkiv region. Residents of the Vovchansky district were forced to return to dangerous zones to take meter readings on their own. Refusal resulted in charges in thousands of hryvnias. According to Popenko, the local energy supplier “Kharkivoblenergo” demanded payment of up to 8,000 hryvnias if the readings were not provided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Double payments caused a special problem for residents of the liberated territories. After the liberation of Kupyansk, where the occupation administration operated for several months, residents were forced to pay debts both to the occupiers and to Ukrainian suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Popenko also reported that after the liberation, in settlements in the Kyiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions, gas and utility suppliers charged for the period of occupation, even though the services were not actually consumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the expert, such a mess arises due to the lack of effective state control. He believes that the relevant bodies, such as the National Commission for the Protection of Energy and Utilities of Ukraine and the State Service for the Protection of Consumers, do not comply with their obligations to protect consumers in cases of unlawful actions by suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These events emphasize the urgent need for systemic changes at the level of control over utility charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukrainians continue to receive payments for utility services despite the destruction of their homes and active hostilities, even in cases where their homes are completely destroyed or the territories remain under occupation. Housing and communal services expert Oleg Popenko, head of the Union of Consumers of Communal Services, released this information. He noted that charging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":9564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n