[89043] Confrontation between the government and the Kyiv City Council over winter preparations and energy readiness

Political tension over the capital's winter readiness

The Ukrainian government has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the pace of the Kyiv City Council's preparations for the upcoming heating season. Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko stated on hromadske and Новини.LIVE that there are "schedule violations" and delays in implementing a series of critical measures. The government is now considering referring the handling of the issue to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBO), arguing that Kyiv has the largest budget among the country's cities and must demonstrate responsibility.

On the other hand, Mayor of Kyiv Віталій Кличко rejects the criticism and claims that the government is placing "obstacles" instead of helping. According to Klitschko, it was previously agreed upon to provide joint funding (50/50) for energy measures, but the government has backed out of its share of the implementation works. Currently, the municipality is working to pass authorization in the City Council for loans from Oschadbank and the EBRD in the amount of 2.5 billion hryvnias and 50 million euros, respectively, to fund the capital's "Resilience Plan."

At the national level, Prime Minister Денис Шмигаль noted that all of Ukraine has recorded significant progress in the field of decentralized generation. According to ministry data, the installed capacity of gas-fired decentralized generation has crossed the 1.8 GW threshold, with the Kyiv and Cherkasy regions leading the national deployment.

While the government (through sources like Новини.LIVE and Ху Київ) focuses on criticism of the municipal management, the Kyiv City Council emphasizes that it has already installed generators with a capacity of about 45 MW and plans to add another 100 MW, with the understanding that current resources are insufficient without full government assistance.