Moratorium on debt collection for consumed gas by district heating companies will complicate relations with international donors
The introduction of a moratorium on debt collection from heat producers for consumed gas could disrupt preparations for winter and complicate relations with international donors.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the column of natural gas market analyst Mykhailo Svyshcho.
According to the expert, the total debt of heating and communal energy companies (TKE), CHPs and TPPs for natural gas has reached a critical level of UAH 150 billion. At the same time, more than 80% of this amount is overdue receivables.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the level of payment by the population for heat consumed is 98%, and the debt problem is concentrated in the heat supply sector and is systemic in nature.
According to the expert, the idea of introducing a moratorium on the collection of this debt is currently being discussed in the margins of parliament. He considers such a decision destructive for many reasons:
Financial insufficiency: even if the state fully pays the difference in tariffs (about UAH 83.9 billion), it will cover only 57% of the total debt. The rest remains a direct unfulfilled obligation of the district heating utility.
Lack of resources for gas purchases: non-payments by thermal power plants deprive the state of the opportunity to purchase gas to prepare for the 2026/2027 heating season and restore destroyed infrastructure after enemy attacks.
Preservation of the problem: a moratorium does not eliminate debt, but only entrenches the practice of non-payment as the norm.
The expert also warns that the rejection of market principles of calculations contradicts Ukraine’s structural obligations to the IMF and other donors.
“Today, the stakes are higher than ever. Ukraine needs financial support not only for its current functioning – it needs it for recovery. Any decision that undermines the trust of the IMF and partners hits the state budget, the hryvnia exchange rate, and the country’s macro-financial stability,” he notes.
According to the expert, without solving the problem of thermal power plant calculations, preparations for next winter are at risk, and the moratorium itself is a “shot in the foot” for the entire energy system.
We will remind, on April 10 in the Verkhovna Rada during the hour of questions to the government, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko reported that during this winter, heating and power utilities increased their debt for consumed gas by UAH 20 billion.
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