Ukrainians' water bills have risen, and the number of cases has exceeded 173,000

As of early September 2026, 173,075 enforcement proceedings had been recorded in Ukraine due to debts for water supply and wastewater services. Nearly 25,000 such proceedings have been added since the beginning of the year.

 

In total, the Unified Register of Debtors currently lists 173,075 cases related to unpaid water bills. 64% of them have already been closed, though this does not necessarily mean the debt has been repaid. Proceedings may have been closed, for example, due to the inability to collect the funds, while the debt record remains in the registry.

The largest number of new cases involving water debt since the beginning of 2026 were opened based on claims filed by the following enterprises:

• Municipal Enterprise “Kryvbasvodokanal” – 3,653 cases;
• Municipal Enterprise “Miskvodokanal” of the Sumy City Council – 3,153;
• MKP “Mykolaivvodokanal”—2,100;
• Municipal Enterprise “Aulsky Vodovod” – 1,699;
• Municipal Utility Company “Khmelnytskyi Vodokanal” – 1,309.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ranked first among the regions in terms of the number of new cases. Overall, the highest number of cases was opened in the following regions:

• Dnipropetrovsk Oblast – 6,923 cases;
• Sumy Oblast – 3,662;
• Mykolaiv Oblast – 2,191;
• Poltava Oblast – 1,873;
• Khmelnytskyi Oblast – 1,415.
• At the same time, the number of new cases remains low in a number of regions. The fewest cases were recorded in:
• Zhytomyr Oblast – 2 cases;
• Kherson Oblast – 18;
• Vinnytsia Oblast – 40;
• Kyiv – 59;
• Rivne Oblast – 111.

The statistics also revealed who is most likely to be added to the registry due to water debts. More than a third of new cases involve Ukrainians aged 46 to 60—8,335 cases.

Another 6,380 cases, or 26%, were filed against people aged 36 to 45. Ukrainians over 60 account for 5,221 cases—roughly one in five.

According to OpenDataBot, there was also a case this year where six proceedings were opened against a single person due to water supply and wastewater treatment debts.

As a reminder, Ukrainians have accumulated over 104 billion hryvnias in utility debts.

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