Why Ukraine lags behind in the implementation of fair competition in the district heating

Why Ukraine lags behind in the establishment of fair competition in the district heating, as it is done in Europe. More on the issue read in the article “Disrict Heating” published in the analytical magazine “Housing and communal services of Ukraine”.

Of course, a role played by the fact that until recently there were price distortions in tariffs for thermal energy for different types of consumers due to the subsidized price of natural gas. As a result, tariffs for the population, whose share in the consumption of heat in district heating systems is in some villages up to 85-90%, were so low, that do not encourage the potential producers of thermal energy from other (except natural gas) fuels and energy to participate in it. Now the situation has changed as a result of the alignment of prices for natural gas for different categories of consumers.

Але існує ще низка причин. Cфера комунального теплопостачання сформувалася ще в радянський час як монополія з виробництва, транспортування та постачання теплової енергії. І досі комунальні підприємства теплопостачання не мають достатніх економічних чи законодавчих стимулів до участі у формуванні конкурентного ринку централізованого теплопостачання. Та й потенційні незалежні виробники теплової енергії насправді обмежені в доступі до теплових мереж.

Read the full article (in Ukrainian)