System debts in the electricity market have exceeded 100 billion hryvnias

The systemic debts in the electricity market exceed 100 billion UAH, and under these conditions, the debts of the population amounting to approximately 10 billion UAH are merely an indicator of the overall market illness.

This was announced by the director of the Energy Research Center, Oleksandr Kharchenko.

"I think these are more likely problems related to the overall chaos and confusion, and an absolutely unacceptable situation in the electricity market as a whole. You know, the 10 billion in household debts against the total debt in the electricity market, if you look at it, is over 100 billion. It’s everything for everyone. Distribution companies have their debts, ’Ukrenergo’ has its debts, each generating company has its debts, and all this together makes up colossal figures. This is a clear sign that the situation is unhealthy," Kharchenko said.

He emphasized that the problem is not limited to non-payment by household consumers.

"I don’t think all these 100 billion are some malicious people consuming electricity in their apartments and not paying. Especially since distribution companies disconnect apartments, sorry, in no time. Legally, illegally—there’s such a story, accidentally cut something off, pay up. So, honestly, for me, this is again another indicator that things are not going very well in our electricity market, to put it mildly," the expert believes.

In his opinion, the problem can only be solved comprehensively.

"Look, it’s there, but it’s incapable of being resolved at the level where it arose, you know. The problem of household debts cannot be solved just at the level of addressing only household debts. The overall market situation needs to be addressed," Kharchenko explained.

According to Kharchenko, without the transition to market prices and the implementation of targeted support for the population, the debt crisis cannot be resolved.

"As long as you don’t put all this together in a basket, this basket won’t come together. No matter what you do with household debts, as long as they are artificially low, essentially not on targeted subsidies but spread out to everyone, it will be impossible to solve this separate issue. There are just no tools," he said.