Preparation for winter requires rapid decisions, effective contact between all stakeholders – district heating utility executives

Preparation for the upcoming heating season is accompanied by a number of problematic issues that require immediate joint solutions in order to ensure stable heat supply, executives of district heating utilities believe.

The issue was discussed during a roundtable at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency titled "Transformation of municipal heating supply enterprises into energy companies: what is changing and how to act," organized by the Association of Critical Infrastructure Operators and the Association of Ukrainian Cities.

"I urge that all pressing issues be resolved very quickly so that we can adequately prepare for the heating season. First of all, this concerns the blocking of district heating utility accounts by Naftogaz, compensation for tariff differences, and gas procurement. Everyone understands how to get out of the collapse in which district heating utilities have found themselves," said Dmytro Rohozhyn, director of Zhytomyrteplokomunenergo utility company.

According to him, due to amendments to Resolution No. 1512 of November 2025 introduced by Resolution No. 526 dated April 24, 2026, at least three major generation projects in the city are currently suspended.

In addition, Rohozhyn said that before the start of winter the city had planned to create eight more energy islands in addition to the existing ones, but the blocking of accounts has significantly slowed this process.

He added that Zhytomyr had focused on energy independence and green investments long before the full-scale invasion, while the destruction of the energy system only confirmed the effectiveness of energy islands. According to him, such an approach makes it possible to significantly save gas while also supplying electricity to the unified energy system.

"What does this mean? First of all, the existence of a basic gas boiler plant, a basic alternative boiler plant operating on local fuel, as well as a significant volume of associated heat from powerful commercial cogeneration units. Such generation effectively covers all the system participants' own needs. We implemented all these measures systematically and this year planned to build eight more such islands in order to fully provide for the city. However, an unbalanced regulatory framework stopped us at a very high speed," the utility director explained.

He noted that both district heating utilities and Naftogaz remain hostages of the situation, and that it must be resolved at the highest government level.

For his part, Pavlo Karas, director of Cherkasyteplokomunenergo utility company, noted that next winter remains the most difficult challenge at present, and that all stakeholders' efforts must be consolidated to get through it.

"Given the current situation, we will no longer be able to get through next winter the same way we got through this one," Karas said.

He pointed out that following changes to regulatory acts, in particular government Resolution No. 1512, the utility he heads halted 11 tenders, thereby blocking the construction of facilities important for the heating season.

"The overall situation is extremely difficult, and the problem lies primarily in certain regulatory issues. All 11 of my construction tenders have been stopped. Accordingly, it is impossible a priori to prepare for winter under such implementation of construction work," the utility director explained.

He added that the procedure for gas procurement has also become much more complicated following the cancellation of public service obligations (PSO) for electricity for district heating utilities.

At the same time, he said that Cherkasyteplokomunenergo had done everything possible and became the first to purchase gas on the exchange, and plans to continue doing so in the future given the more favorable price compared with that offered by Naftogaz under direct contracts.

"We bought gas at UAH 27,200 per 1,000 cubic meters including VAT. Right now, Naftogaz is offering us a price of UAH 31,000 per 1,000 cubic meters. And some cities agreed to such conditions, but it is difficult to call them fair," Karas said.

At the same time, as Karas said, the blocking of district heating utility accounts effectively makes it impossible to purchase gas under any conditions and generally prevents the normal operation of heat supply enterprises. He also stressed the need to resolve the issue of fund distribution on district heating utility accounts, since only 35% of revenues remain at the disposal of the enterprises, while the remaining funds are transferred to Naftogaz Ukrainy.

At the same time, the director of Cherkasyteplokomunenergo, like his colleagues, drew attention to the need for the state to repay the tariff difference compensation, the amount of which exceeds the debts of heating utilities to Naftogaz.

As reported, during the same event Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities Oleksandr Slobozhan stated that Naftogaz Ukrainy had blocked the accounts of 69 district heating enterprises through court proceedings, threatening a complete halt to their operations, disrupting the implementation of resilience plans, and making preparations for the next heating season impossible.

Municipal enterprise Teplovyk (Starokostiantyniv, Khmelnytsky region) plans to increase its share in covering the city's energy needs from 30% to 50% by the next heating season, but according to company director Oleksandr Dushenko, the blocking of its accounts by Naftogaz Ukrainy threatens the implementation of these plans.

The Ministry for Communities and Territories Development is developing relevant solutions regarding the unblocking of district heating utility accounts and changing the proportion of fund distribution on their accounts, which currently stands at 35/65 (where the district heating utilities' share is 35% and Naftogaz Ukrainy's share is 65%), Director of the ministry's Life Support Systems Department Vitaliy Surai said during the roundtable.