The Ombudsman is calling on the government to review heating bills in Kyiv
Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, has appealed to the Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine — Oleksiy Kuleba, Minister of Community and Territorial Development — demanding that he verify the legality of the additional charges for heat supply that Kyiv residents received on their May bills.
Consumers are complaining en masse about the additional charges for January—a period when, following massive shelling by Russia, a significant part of the capital remained without heat for an extended period.
Kyivteploenergo explains the additional charges as an automatic recalculation based on the standards set forth in Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 683. At the same time, Lubinets noted that between January and March alone, his Office recorded over 600 complaints from citizens regarding the lack of heating or its poor quality. The Ombudsman emphasized that he is personally monitoring the situation and that people should pay only for the services they actually received; therefore, all decisions made by utility providers must be transparent and lawful.
As a reminder, in June in Kyiv, residents of many buildings began receiving heating bills for January, the amounts of which came as an unpleasant surprise to people.
The Kyiv City State Administration explained that in May, Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 683 came into effect, introducing a new procedure for calculating heating charges amid widespread infrastructure damage caused by Russian attacks. Consequently, Kyiv residents’ June bills included additional charges for January heating. According to Kyiv officials, the amounts were reviewed and reduced by an average of 40%.
