23.07.2026
Energy Club received a response from NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine to a joint appeal by the Club’s member companies to prevent the transfer of the settlement crisis in the heat supply sector to the electricity market.
The appeal was prepared based on the results of an expert discussion held on the Energy Club platform and sent to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the National Commission for the Regulation of Energy and Utilities, relevant ministries, Ukrenergo NPC, Ukrinterenergo DPZD, Naftogaz Group, the Association of Ukrainian Cities and other involved parties.
In the appeal, the Energy Club member companies emphasized the risk of forming a new debt chain in the electricity market due to the arrest or blocking of accounts of individual heating and utility companies due to debts for natural gas. This situation may lead to the fact that the liquidity deficit of the district heating system will actually be transferred to electricity suppliers, system operators, the supplier of “last resort” and other participants in the electricity market.
In its response, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine notes that the Company shares the position of Energy Club regarding the need to urgently resolve the crisis of settlements of heat supply and heat generation organizations for consumed energy carriers.
At the same time, Naftogaz emphasizes that the debt crisis in the heat supply sector is of a pervasive and systemic nature, therefore it cannot be resolved by creating preferences or special conditions in only one segment. Any settlement mechanisms should be comprehensive and take into account the interests of natural gas suppliers, in particular the legal entities of the Naftogaz Group as the largest creditors and suppliers of natural gas resources.
The Company also draws attention to the fact that artificially separating current payments for electricity without resolving the systemic problem of accumulating debts for natural gas will not eliminate the root cause of the crisis, but may lead to shifting the financial burden to the legal entities of the Naftogaz Group.
Energy Club believes that Naftogaz’s response confirms the need for further intersectoral dialogue and the development of a balanced mechanism that will simultaneously take into account the interests of heating and power companies, electricity suppliers, natural gas suppliers, system operators, communities, the state and consumers.
“Naftogaz’s position is important for further work on solving this problem. We see that all parties recognize the systemic nature of the crisis. Therefore, the task is not to transfer the debt burden from one market segment to another, but to find a comprehensive, transparent and controlled mechanism for current settlements and settlement of historical debt,” said Andriy Kostrytsia, President of Energy Club.
Energy Club emphasizes that the previously proposed idea of a temporary stabilization mechanism does not provide for the exemption of district heating companies from paying for electricity or ignoring gas debt. This concerns the need to create a payment regime that will ensure payment for current electricity consumption, distribution and transmission services, prevent the formation of new debts in the electricity market and, at the same time, settle historical debts in the field of heat supply.
Among the possible elements of such an approach, Energy Club member companies have previously proposed the creation of an interdepartmental coordination group, the formation of a register of problematic DHPCs, the introduction of a protected channel for current payments, the development of a framework for stabilization agreements between DHPCs, the supplier and the community, targeted mutual settlements and a mandatory assessment of the consequences before transferring problematic DHPCs to the supplier of “last resort”.
Energy Club is ready to continue a professional dialogue with representatives of state bodies, the National Commission for the Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities, Naftogaz, NPC Ukrenergo, DPZD Ukrinterenergo, local governments, DHPCs, electricity suppliers and other market participants to find a practical solution.
The expected result of such work is to prevent the debt problem of the heating sector from automatically developing into a new debt crisis in the electricity market, while maintaining the continuous operation of critical infrastructure and taking into account the legitimate interests of all participants in the relevant legal relations.
