Kyiv’s city administration recently faced significant delays in accessing 1.25 billion hryvnias allocated for winter preparation. The funds were intended for the State Recovery Agency to procure equipment and establish a backup heating system for the capital. However, a response from the Treasury indicated that the agency could not accept these funds, citing a lack of legal grounds for transferring budgetary resources from the city to the state budget.
According to expert Serhiyenko, the funds remained unutilized for several months, during which time Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Panteleyev, and city council deputies hoped these resources would ensure adequate heating during the winter months. The officials involved apparently overlooked the critical need for heating in the city, which affects all residents.
The financial plan for winter was deemed too burdensome for the city’s budget, prompting local authorities to seek alternative funding sources and to finance part of the expenses independently. Currently, Kyiv has amassed 11.1 billion hryvnias and is negotiating loans totaling 5.2 billion hryvnias with Oschadbank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Additionally, Kyivenergo has 1.7 billion hryvnias in available funds, while a subvention of 1.3 billion hryvnias has been discussed by city officials.
Despite these efforts, Serhiyenko noted that government support has not been straightforward, complicating the city’s financial strategy for winter preparedness.
Context
- On July 14, Klitschko announced that the Kyiv City Council voted to return 1.25 billion hryvnias from the state budget to the city budget.
- Kyiv is executing resilience plan projects totaling nearly 23 billion hryvnias.
