In the capital, there is money for at least a partial replacement of outdated heating networks, but it is not being spent on this
On Thursday, January 9, a pipe burst flooded the intersection of Zhylianska and Symon Petliura streets with hot water. 230 buildings were left without heating for two days, and the stream of boiling water damaged two historic buildings from the late 19th century, prompting police to evacuate residents due to the risk of collapse.
9 This is the largest, but far from the first, accident in the capital's heating networks since the start of the heating season. What is happening with heating and water supply in Kyiv and where is the money that could be spent on replacing outdated infrastructure going? – this was investigated by Kashtan NEWS.
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A series of pipe bursts traditionally began at the start of the heating season. The connection of residential buildings to heating started on October 30, and exactly one day before this, a heating network burst on Velyka Vasylkivska Street, 84. The roadway near the "Olympiyska" metro station was flooded with boiling water, and capital Telegram channels began publishing photos of the street engulfed in thick steam.
0 At "Kyivteploenergo," they explained this street "sauna" as an operational damage in the heating chamber, which caused water to leak through the hatch and drainage channels onto the roadway.
On November 1, another burst occurred in the Pechersk district – near the Tetris Hall residential complex on DILOVA street (formerly Dymitrova). The burst happened during the startup of the heating network, which, according to municipal workers, had undergone comprehensive reconstruction prior to this.
“During the filling of the pipeline with water, a depressurization occurred, resulting in the heat carrier entering the trench,” – reported "Kyivteploenergo."
1 The residents of Kyiv described their impressions of the burst in a more expressive manner:
“A ‘public jacuzzi’ opened near Tetris Hall,” – captioned a video from the scene by the Telegram channel “Real Kyiv.”
Exactly two weeks later, on November 15, due to a pipe burst, the roadway at the intersection of Dniprovska Embankment and Knyazhy Zaton Street, located on the left bank, was flooded. Residents of the building near the accident site were left without water supply, and the district administration had to send a water tanker with drinking water there.
2 Two weeks later, on November 30, another large leak occurred on the left bank: a water main burst on Petro Hryhorenko Avenue in the Darnytsia district. Water flooded the roadway and also inundated a nearby parking lot. The patrol police had to block traffic from Zdolbunivska Street towards Anna Akhmatova Street.
3 The following month was relatively calm: throughout December, the capital's utilities had only one major burst – in the Shevchenkivskyi district. On December 11, as a result of a pipe burst, Hlybochytska Street opposite Heydar Aliyev Park was flooded, leaving the "Lviv Quarter" residential complex, an industrial zone, offices, and a pre-trial detention center in Kososhirny Lane without water supply.
4 However, the new year began, so to speak, with a bang: the large “geyser” at the intersection of Zhylianska and Petliura, already mentioned, not only paralyzed traffic near the Central Railway Station but also destroyed the roadway arch between two historical monuments – the building of Fedor Horyachka (1880) and the estate of Anna Borodkova (1889). As a result of damage to the supporting structures, the brickwork on the second floors of both buildings collapsed. More than 230 buildings, including three medical institutions, were left without heating, which had to be warmed using mobile boilers.
5 Simultaneously with this accident, residents of the left bank were also left without heat – on January 7, heating disappeared in the buildings at the beginning of Krakivska Street, near the "Darnytsia" metro station. After a day and a half, the heating supply was restored, but according to residents of the block, the utility workers left the heating network well open, allowing water to be seen still flowing from one of the valves.
6 On January 10, residents of four buildings in Solomianskyi district were left without heat due to a burst in the network on Lypkivskyi Street. At "Kyivteploenergo," they called the water leak “insignificant,” but heating disappeared immediately in four neighboring buildings.
There is money, but not for pipes
The vast majority of the capital's heating networks are worn out and need replacement rather than repair, noted Kyiv City Council member Liliya Pashynna in a comment to Kashtan NEWS.
“There is practically nothing left to repair there. Because a repair as such will have no positive effect,” – she said.
For the capital repairs of communications in 2025, local authorities allocated 96.5 million hryvnias in the budget. This will be enough to repair six kilometers of heating networks or twelve kilometers of pipes. At the same time, as noted last autumn by the head of the Consumer Services Union Oleg Popenko, out of 2,600 kilometers of heating networks in Kyiv, nearly 600-700 kilometers require immediate capital repair. However, these estimates may be inaccurate, as no technical audit has been conducted since the transfer of communications from "Kyivenergo" to the balance of "Kyivteploenergo."
7 According to Liliya Pashynna, the estimated cost of replacing the most worn-out communications is at least six billion hryvnias. The most interesting thing is that the city has such money, but they do not plan to spend it on heating infrastructure, according to Klitschko.
“I do not know why this is happening. We have funds in the budget. In particular, our Finance Department confirms 12 billion unspent. According to my calculations, this figure is a bit higher, but okay, we can start from this 12 billion. But, as we can see, the heating networks are not being replaced,” – stated Liliya Pashynna.
Yuliya TENENYOVA