Ukraine cuts hot water in Kyiv to save gas
Ukrainian authorities have shut off hot water supplies in the capital, Kyiv, in a bid to save gas following Russia’s decision to stop supplies.
Kyivenergo, the company responsible for providing heating to the capital’s three million residents, said it cut gas supplies to all thermal power plants, which warm the water supplied to households, on Monday.
The decision to cut hot water in the capital was announced last week by Kyiv mayor and former world boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko. According to Klitshko, the stoppage would last until the month of October, which is longer than the usual few weeks every summer.
Klitschko also said hot water was cut “in order to save gas supplies for the winter.”
Another city official, Dmytro Novytsky, who is in charge of municipal services, voiced similar concerns, saying, “If we don’t start saving gas now, then we will have big problems in winter.”
Russia’s decision to halt supplies came after Kyiv refused to pay for natural gas upfront as a protest to Russia’s decision in April to almost double former gas prices. Russian company Gazprom raised the price of gas for Ukrainian consumers to USD 485 per 1,000 cubic meters from USD 268 for the first quarter of 2014.
Ukraine said Moscow increased the price after former President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February. Kyiv called the move politically motivated, but Russian authorities rejected the claim.
Prior to Moscow’s decision to halt deliveries, Russia provided about half of Ukraine’s and 30 percent of Europe’s total gas demand through major pipelines in the Ukrainian territory.
CAH/HJL