Service tariffs for apartment buildings have doubled: Ukrainians are faced with record bills for maintaining high-rise buildings.

The cost of maintaining apartment buildings in Kyiv has increased more than twice after the competition for selecting managers was held. This was reported by Oleg Popenko, the head of the Union of Consumers of Utility Services of Ukraine.

Illegal competition

‘The competition was held by district state administrations, but the order for its conduct was given by the Kyiv City Military Administration at the request of the Kyiv City State Administration. In my opinion, the competition is absolutely illegal because a number of points were included that have nothing to do with apartment buildings in the city of Kyiv,’ Popenko explained.

Among the problematic points, the expert noted the requirements for cleaning the adjacent territory, which is in communal ownership, and the issue of the absence of technical documentation for the buildings.

Schemes and abuses

‘I will tell you from my own experience: I know the entire background of the company perfectly. 'Dead souls', improper use of funds – I was fired for exposing these schemes,’ Popenko shared.

According to the expert, the problem of 'dead souls' is quite widespread, and he also pointed out the spending of funds on electricity for incorrect purposes.

Other cities in Ukraine

‘Definitely, all these funds will go to the leadership of the Kyiv City State Administration, which invented this competition to additionally collect money from ordinary Kyiv residents,’ Popenko emphasized.

The expert also noted that a similar situation is observed in other cities of Ukraine. He considers this illegal since the only source of decision-making for an apartment building should be the general meetings of the residents.

At the same Time, Popenko is uniting Kyiv consumers of utility services to file a joint lawsuit regarding the results of the competition for selecting managers of apartment buildings.

Previously, we reported that an expert uncovered a scam involving the installation of solar panels.

During the review of the situation with the maintenance of apartment buildings in Kyiv, it turned out that the conducted competition could be illegal, as well as a number of financial crimes and schemes were uncovered. All this infringes on the rights of residents and increases the cost of maintenance. Such a problem, according to the expert, is common for many cities in Ukraine, so it is important to monitor the resolution of this situation.