Sienkevych criticised housing associations that are refusing to let the heating in

Workers maintaining heating equipment in Mykolaiv. Archive photo NikVesti

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, has criticised the chairpersons of homeowners’ associations, whom residents have been complaining about due to a lack of heating. He described this as «cutting corners at the expense of people’s health» and instructed that complaints be forwarded to the Department of Municipal Services.

This was discussed during a staff meeting on 9 November, according to NikVesti.

Oleksandra Brytvak, head of the «Call Centre 1588» department for handling citizens’ enquiries, said that residents are currently most frequently calling to complain about the lack of heating in HOA buildings. According to her, people do not want to post about this publicly on Facebook as they fear being harassed in their building.

«They don’t want to post complaints, so they ring us and say: «Such-and-such housing association; our chairperson doesn’t want to switch on the heating, is cutting back to save money» and so on. There are various reasons. That’s why we’re still receiving a lot of complaints about housing associations,» said Oleksandra Brytvak.

Oleksandr Sienkevych noted that he also receives such messages personally, and asked how the contact centre responds to these enquiries.

«We ring the chairpersons of the housing associations to find out why this is happening,» replied Oleksandra Brytvak.

The mayor instructed that the information be passed on to the section of the Department of Municipal Services that works with property managers and housing associations.

«I respect, love and value all the chairpersons of the housing associations. […] But this issue of such callous cost-cutting at the expense of other people’s health — that really goes too far. So let them turn the heating on, let people into their homes, and stop worrying about saving money,» said Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Meanwhile, Mykola Lohvinov, director of the municipal enterprise «Mykolaivoblteploenergo», attributed the problem to the preparation of buildings for the heating season. According to him, the homeowners’ associations were given the opportunity in advance to obtain treated water for their heating systems, but not all of them carried out the necessary maintenance work.

Mykola Lohvinov also stated that 90 per cent of homeowners’ associations do not have certificates of readiness for the heating season.

«90 per cent of homeowners’ associations simply do not have certificates of readiness for the heating season,» said Mykola Lohvinov.

Following this, Oleksandr Sienkevych instructed that the legal implications of such a situation be examined.

«So, we need to make the legal preparations to penalise them for this. They must be accountable not only to residents, but also to the city and to the heat supply companies. […] If the nice way doesn’t work, then we’ll have to take a tougher approach.» «How much longer can we keep trying to persuade them?» declared Oleksandr Sienkevych.

How the heating is being switched on in Mykolaiv

As a reminder, the heating season in Mykolaiv began on 3 November, and a decision by the executive committee allocated 10 days to connect all consumers. Heating charges are to be calculated based on the date of the actual connection of the buildings.

As of 10 November, according to city authorities, heating had been supplied to 1,928 out of 1,976 residential buildings served by «Mykolaivobltheploenergo» and the Mykolaiv Thermal Power Station.

However, residents of Mykolaiv continue to complain about freezing radiators, cold pipes and a lack of response from the management companies. In particular, a resident of the building at 33-A Pivdenna Street reported a room temperature of 12°C. In other blocks, residents say that some radiators remain cold, and appeals to the service providers have yielded no results.

During a meeting on 9 November, Oleksandr Sienkevych criticised the prolonged delay in the Mykolaiv CHPP restoring the heat supply. Representatives of the company explained that their work was being hampered by power cuts: once the plant has been shut down, it takes time to restart it and restore the heating system.

Separately, Oleksandr Sienkevych instructed that the temperature of the heat transfer fluid from the CHP be checked to ascertain whether residents are being charged for heating of substandard quality.

Meanwhile, Mykola Lohvinov, director of «Mykolaivobltheploenergo», reported that the company does not switch on generators during power cuts whilst temperatures remain above zero. According to him, fuel for their operation costs around 13 million hryvnias per month. There is a 14-day supply, but there are insufficient funds to replenish it regularly. Mykola Lohvinov proposed starting the generators when the temperature drops to zero or below.