As winter approaches, the issue of heating in Kyiv apartments has become particularly acute
On October 16, the city mayor announced on Facebook that 234 facilities in the capital had already been connected to heating.
1 Among them are 85 schools, 96 kindergartens, and 42 medical institutions. Specifically, there are 28 hospitals, 11 administrative buildings, as well as social and domestic facilities. However, residential buildings will only start being connected when the average daily temperature drops to +8°C for three consecutive days, and a significant cooling trend is observed.
On October 30, it was a celebration for residential buildings as the heating radiators in homes began to warm up. The very next day, Vitali Klitschko announced that as of the morning of October 31, 16 percent of the residential fund in the capital (1617 high-rise buildings) had received heating. He stated that the connection of all buildings to heating would take up to seven days.
And the seventh day has passed...
However, when the seventh day passed, the promised warmth had still not appeared in many homes. Indignant Kyiv residents are asking the mayor on social media why he "throws around words about seven days when he knows very well that it won't happen? Because preparations for winter have only been on paper for many years now."
The main thing is to promise, and somehow it will work out. This style of governance is not uncommon for city leaders.
2
Kyiv resident Gavrylov Vadym asks:
“Does the mayor really believe that the heating season has started? Does he have the proper information or is it fabricated?”
City residents wrote over two hundred angry comments on Facebook in response to Vitali Klitschko’s announcement about connecting residential buildings to heating, also posing dozens of questions. The vast majority concerned the critical heating situation in the Lisovyi Massif. Here’s one post that can be considered the “nerve of the day.”
Yuliya Borysenko: appeals to the mayor for a response to the problem:
“Work on connecting the heating medium to the new construction at the intersection of Milutenka and Sholom Aleichem streets began back in summer. Funds were allocated, and there is evidence of this, but the company responsible for this work has done nothing. Appeals to 'Kyivteploenergo' yielded no results, as the official response was that the company is not the contractor for this reconstruction. Appeals to '1551' and '1557' have also not yielded results, with deadlines for connecting hot water being pushed further and further back; initially promised for September 23, then October 15, and now the deadline is November 15. 148 buildings in the massif and 4 schools remain without hot water supply and heating. Do something already! This is starting to resemble sabotage during a state of war.”
Panteleev never writes responses
The Kаштан NEWS editorial team submitted an information request to the Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA).
In particular, they asked how many schools, kindergartens, medical institutions, and residential buildings remained without hot water supply and heating in the Lisovyi Massif as of October 17-18? What is the reason? Who is to blame? What measures is KCSA taking to rectify the situation? When will the utilities be connected to hot water supply and heating in the Lisovyi Massif?
We hoped to receive a response from the profile deputy head of KCSA, Petro Panteleev, as he coordinates the activities of the housing and communal services. Instead, a letter was sent by Panteleev’s advisor, Yuliya Hramotna.
Is it really so difficult for Panteleev to personally inform journalists? Is it beneath him? Or is he following the example of his boss – Vitali Klitschko, who almost never responds personally to the letters of Kyiv residents? The mayor also ignores residents' appeals on Facebook.
3 And here’s what Panteleev’s advisor told journalists:
“On Milutenka Street in the Desnyanskyi district, full restoration of hot water supply to residential and social buildings has been completed after a large-scale reconstruction of the heating system. According to the communal services, as of the end of October, the service has been restored for the second group of buildings, meaning for all consumers. All buildings in the reconstruction zone were prepared for the supply of heating medium and stable passage of the heating season.
A comprehensive reconstruction of heating networks and equipment has been carried out on Milutenka Street. The works are a necessary component in the process of constructing a new residential building at the intersection of Milutenka and Sholom Aleichem streets, where residents from an emergency residential building are to be relocated. Moreover, the reconstruction significantly improves the quality of service delivery for consumers, addresses issues of emergency situations, and reduces heat losses in this area.
As of October 18, stable hot water supply service has been restored for the first group of consumers – about 70 residential buildings and nearly 20 social and administrative buildings.”
After reading the response, one gets the impression that work in the Lisovyi Massif is proceeding on schedule, that everything is fine with heating here, and residents need not worry. And not a word about anyone failing to do their job... Such a glossing over of reality.
Like peas against the wall
Now, let’s look at comments from those living in Lisovyi.
Denis Lukianets invited the mayor to come on October 19 at 12:00 to the roundabout: Milutenka – Sholom Aleichem streets. He suggested that Klitschko personally listen to the complaints of the people and propose solutions to the heating problem.
The capital's head does not attend such events, and it seems that Petro Panteleev also had no desire to visit this address.
Olena Oleksandrivna also appeals to the city authorities:
“Meet with the residents of the Lisovyi massif! Phone calls to the utility workers are not helping.”
Lubov Victorovna writes about what Lisovyi looks like:
“Dug up back and forth. For two months, there has been no hot water, and the contractor... has done nothing. Where are the funds allocated for the repairs? 148 buildings are without heating and without understanding when it will appear.”
Svetlana Sklyar notes:
“In Lisovyi, we remain without heating until November 15, but even that is not certain, as the schedules are still being pushed back as it suits the utilities.”
Angelika Samotkal also writes angrily:
“A rally in Lisovyi... People have been without hot water for more than two months, deadlines for work are constantly postponed, people are blocking the road on Sholom Aleichem street...”
The department does not hear
Perhaps the head of the KCSA's Housing and Communal Services Department, Dmytro Naumenko, visited the residents of Lisovyi? There is no information about this in open networks or on the official KCSA website. Ultimately, does Dmytro Naumenko even know about the hot problem in the Lisovyi massif? Posts on his personal Facebook page date back to... 2021. And on the Facebook page of the department he heads, only two posts have been made in October 2024, neither of which even mention the Lisovyi massif. And this is despite the fact that in October, residents of Lisovyi were loudly calling for help. In November, the department posted nothing at all on Facebook.
4 So it’s no surprise that complaints from Lisovyi are not heard by the KCSA. However, the officials of the KCSA, of course, receive their substantial salaries, including bonuses for intensive work, on time.
Let’s see what’s happening in this area in other parts of the city.
Anna Holovach names the address:
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