The state utility enterprise “Lutskteplo” ensures the supply of heat to more than 55 thousand apartments of residents and about a thousand legal entities in Lutsk, the regional center of Volyn. In terms of turnover, it is undoubtedly the largest utility company of the city, but it has many problems.

Recently, a new wave of attention to Lutskteplo was attracted by the extension of the lease of the largest boiler house, which heats about 45% of users. After all, for almost 20 years this boiler house does not actually belong to the city, instead it is in fact in the hands of the “Continuum” business group.

Critics complain, that in the conditions of a full-scale war, the private owner of the boiler house is once again raising the rent. The funds that could have been spent on supporting the army, the city government pays to the local “oligarch”. The authorities reply that there is no alternative yet.

We found out that the largest boiler house in Lutsk ended up in private ownership due to a dubious scheme of joint heat generation. As part of this scheme, the utility company became one of the founders of a private company and contributed its property in the form of a boiler house to the authorized capital in 2004. However, as a result, “Lutskteplo” was forced to later rent the same boiler house and pay millions of hryvnias for it.

In addition, the company is in a difficult situation due to unprofitable tariffs, a high level of wear and tear of networks, manipulations with the distribution of funds at the state level, as well as public debts for heating and hot water.

In order to solve the current problems, the management of the enterprise plans to attract international assistance, in particular, credit programs of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. They already receive significant support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).