The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, promised residents of the Ukrainian capital last month that by the middle of September hot water supply will return to the city. Last week, the government announced that residents of Kiev will be provided with hot water by September 6. However, last Wednesday "Kyivenergo" reported that only 309 households have been provided with hot water supply. Thus, the number of homes without hot water decreased from 4984 to 4675.
Member of the Kiev Rada and former chairman of Kiev City Hall Volodymyr Bondarenko notes that the geography of the households provided with hot water supply strangely coincides with the richest neighbourhoods of the capital. "On the outskirts, in areas with old Khrushchev housing or dormitories, there is no water. Let's hope that the promise of Vitali Klitschko that the city will receive this luxury - hot water - will come true."
Volodymyr Bondarenko recognizes that the thermal stability of Ukrainian residential and non-residential buildings is much lower than in Europe, and it will require significant capital investment to improve the situation, investment which is nowhere to be found. "This year it is unlikely that anything will change in this direction. Our heating systems often warm up space rather than our homes," the lawmaker says.
Bondarenko highlights a range of issues in the field of heat supply in Ukraine. "There is a problem of optimization and placement of power plants, there is a problem of heat-insulation of the pipes. In Kiev, about 85% of the pipes today are "Steel-3" pipes, which means that they need insulation. This problem may lead to accidents, including those which may occur in the winter, " the member of the Rada said.
Another problem, he said, is a "special policy and the behavior of monopolies, which provide heating. It's actually the private companies of the oligarchs, who continue to earn a lot of money operating in this field without thinking about its modernization or ensuring the effectiveness of the system."
"The Department of Energy announced the need not only to save energy, but the need for rolling blackouts in Ukraine in general for some facilities, because the coal which is mined in the Donetsk Region, we are now forced to replace with coal from South Africa and other sources," Bondarenko says.
According to him, Kiev is ready for the winter only partially and the preparation for the winter period is inadequate. "Many issues that are connected to the preparation for winter are being ignored. This particularly concerns the repair of damaged sections of the trails, which can collapse in the most inopportune moment. Another problem is a possible absence of repair materials and equipment necessary for cleaning the city. Because a street dug in winter becomes impassable and the preparation for the winter season is insufficient."
The former chairman of Kyiv City Hall notes that earlier "special attention was paid to the problems of pest control in living quarters, and today it is considered to be a third-rate matter, although when homes are not heated, the mosquitoes themselves will die and will not bite our residents. This can be a joke, but I think that the issues of heating and hot water supply are issues which are still very acute."
