Emergency in Smile: games before the election and banal theft

Photo: Valery Zvonarev

The state of emergency is due to the lack of heating in the housing sector, as well as public utility companies: schools, kindergartens and hospitals. In relation to emergency educational institutions, the city may be closed indefinitely.

As the media became known, local activists are preparing to bring the city's residents to a rally, asking the city authorities to report what was done to start the heating season in due time. The government itself explains the current critical situation with the unpaid multi-million dollar debts of the former gas supplier to the city of Energoinvest.

Last year, Cherkasigaz company stopped supplying city gas boilers, demanding from the Smela authorities to repay the debt of Smela Energoinvest, a private service company of more than 200 million. As a result, the authorities have suspended cooperation with Smela Energoinvest LLC for failing to fulfill their obligations to supply heat. Smilakomunteploenergo became the main supplier of heat, but problems did not disappear.

"Most likely, the money has just been stolen"

"The situation in Smela is very complicated," said energy expert Dmitry Marunich in a comment on the KP in Ukraine. "It seems that tens of millions of people are simply stolen, but criminal proceedings have been initiated.

According to experts, the situation did not appear today – for two years it is taking place with the full encouragement of local authorities. The fact that the situation threatens to become critical, the media wrote many times, including this summer. And everyone knew about it, including local authorities and the prime minister. However, it was warm during the summer and no one was disturbed, and now the 80,000th city is frozen because the cold has already begun. If the debts are not repaid, they will be hanged on Cherkassigaz, and then the tariff for the population will be 2.5 times more expensive (tariff for industry plus penalties and penalties will apply).

At the same time, many experts believe that Naftogaz deliberately brought the situation to a critical point.

"Initially, they determined the amount of debt above which the NJSC would not give a gas limit," recalls energy expert Valentin Zemljanski. – Then they began to demand the repayment of the debt (here's the overdraft) at the expense of local budgets. Finally, NAC was entitled to request the debtor's expulsion in the heating season. Everything, the puzzle has evolved. And all the negatives of local residents have hit a regional pump, which must be in line with NAC's requirements.

At the same time, according to political analyst Alexei Jakubin, Naftogaz deliberately tries to make Ukrtransgaz and regional gas companies unprofitable – this is done by postponing the signing of the contract. Also, the idea of ​​balancing everyday gas has emerged with the introduction of the principle of monitoring the amount of gas consumed. That is, Naftohaz tries to show, using various bureaucratic procedures, that it is profitable and loses other companies involved in the system.

"The problem was created artificially, so someone" excellent "could solve it.

According to Dmitry Marunich, responsibility for the current situation lies with everyone – local authorities and Naftohaz. Now you have to sign a contract, start boiler rooms, and then sit down and decide what to do with debts.

But, while Naftogaz went by the principle: there is no additional agreement – we will not give gas. And, says Marunich, formally, the NAC is legally authorized. The problem is that this law is already from a modern history and is completely lobbyed by monopolists.

"Today we see that Naftohaz, completely ignoring the population, is trying to give up social functions, although it is a state company and, to a large extent, exists to fulfill this function," says political analyst Jakubin. – In "Naftogaz" they lobbied for the norm to exclude heat and energy, and now the debt is a sufficient reason to exclude the population from heat even in severe frosts. But that can not and should not be solved. First, this is a big problem for the system itself. Secondly, many Smela residents pay for heat and gas even under these spatial fees. And, unfortunately, the situation in Smile is just the beginning.

At the same time, Valentin Zemlianski believes that the problem has been artificially created, in order to provide someone with a "great" opportunity to solve it.

"The situation really became a threat," says the expert. – Gas will be opened by the "highest" direct order of the prime minister or president. But this will not solve the problem, because the debt will explode again.