Kyiv mayor vows to return hot water to residential buildings this September
KYIV. Aug 4 (Interfax) - Hot water supplies will not be back in Kyiv houses before September, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
"Currently, in this warm period, we are counting on Kyiv residents' understanding over the lack of hot water. We will only return hot water supplies with the arrival of the cold - in September, late September," Klitschko said at a Monday briefing.
"The inconveniences experienced by Kyiv residents are temporary," the city mayor added.
Currently, Kyivenergo is building up its stores of fuel oil while the Ukrainian government is searching for an opportunity to increase its own natural gas production and supplies from other countries, Klitschko said.
Asked about prospects for the winter-time heating of residential houses, the mayor said that "it will be warm in our houses."
On August 4 Kyivenergo fully stopped hot water supplies in Kyiv.
All Kyivenergo's heating sources have been cut off from gas, said a spokesperson for the energy company. As of August 4, hot water supplies have been cut off for 16.26% of consumers because of the repairs conducted by Kyivenergo and for 83.74% because of the shutdown of heating sources.
Shortages of natural gas for heat-generating and heat-supplying companies have prompted the government and businesses to revisit issues such as gas saving, reduction of energy dependence, diversification of energy resources and development of energy-efficiency and energy-saving measures.
"For these purposes, Kyivenergo is abiding by the government's decision, and in particular, the instruction by the Ministry of Coal Industry to save natural gas for the central-heating period. The ministerial instruction sets the technological-minimum limits for gas consumption for thermal energy generation," the spokesperson said.
Kyivenergo is trying to reduce gas spending during the central-heating period, and in particular, devising measures to increase energy efficiency and savings. Thanks to the shutdown of thermal sources in July, a total of 12 million cubic meters of gas have been saved, and the figure is predicted to increase to 530 million cubic meters from August 1 until the end of the central-heating season," the press release said.
The Ukrainian Cabinet has approved monthly gas-distribution volumes by region for a period from August 1, 2014 till April 1, 2015, which set consumption for heat-generating and heat-supplying companies at 5.85 billion cubic meters and for Kyivenergo at 1.19 billion cubic meters.
"Having limited gas consumption during the summer period, Kyiv can use its gas savings to get through the central-heating season. If you add measures to thermally insulate apartments, to improve energy-consumption habits, energy-efficiency and modernization measures - all this will make it easier to provide Kyiv residents with centralized-heating and hot-water supply services this coming winter," Kyivenergo's General Director Oleksandr Fomenko said, according to the press release.
Fomenko told journalists on Monday that to get through the 2014/15 central-heating season Kyivenergo will need about 1.6-1.7 billion cubic meters of cubic gas. "To get through the heating season we need 1.6-1.7 billion cubic meters of gas," said the general director, adding that Kyivenergo is considering buying additional quantities of fuel oil for this winter.
"We have discussed the purchase of more fuel oil with Vitali Klitschko so as to be able to eliminate winter 'peaks' of thermal-energy consumption through its use," said the company chief.
At the same time he would not specify what funding and how much of it will be used to buy fuel oil.
For his part, Klitschko promised that Kyiv will not be cold this winter but urged residents to use energy resources sparingly.
According to Interfax, in 2013 Kyivenergo consumed 2,475,527,000 cubic meters of gas.
Kyivenergo operates virtually all energy facilities located in the capital, except the Darnitskaya thermal power station. Ukraine's largest vertically-integrated energy holding company, DTEK, owned by Renat Akhmetov, holds a 72.33% stake in Kyivenergo. Yet another 25% plus one share in the company are held by the Energy Company of Ukraine.