Photo from UNIAN
The amount of the compensation is not known, as the assessment of the city's heating assets has not been completed yet.
Deputy Chairman of Kyiv City State Administration (KCSA) Petro Panteleyev says Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov's Kyivenergo energy generating company, which earlier managed the capital's heating assets before they were singled out as a separate business entity, demands from UAH 800 million to UAH 900 million (US$28-32 million) in compensation from the local authorities for the modernization of the heating networks.
"This is about UAH 800-900 million in compensation that Kyivenergo demands from the city," he said.
Read alsoKyiv court dismisses Kyivenergo's claim for assigning debts for Naftogaz gas to Kyivteploenergo
A probe conducted by investigative journalist Denys Bihus for the Nashi Groshi ("Our Money") project revealed that after the termination of the agreement between KCSA and Kyivenergo, Akhmetov's company not only shifted its obligations (UAH 1.2 billion, or $42.7 million, in penalties for debts for gas worth UAH 1.2 billion) to the city, but also claimed compensation for the funds spent on the modernization of the heating networks.
Kyiv City State Administration's press service told UNIAN that it was too early to speak about the amount of the compensation as the assessment of the city's heating assets had not been completed yet. Moreover, Kyivenergo has not yet officially applied for the compensation.
Kyivenergo told UNIAN in a comment that it estimates its spending on the renovation and modernization of the thermal assets at UAH 750 million (US$26.8 million).
"Under the terms of the contract, the city must pay us compensation for the improvements in the utility networks we financed with own money. This topic is not a subject of a debt settlement agreement," Kyivenergo's Chief Legal Officer Olha Iyevleva told UNIAN.
The exact sum of the compensation should be determined by Kyiv City Council.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Kyiv's heating networks and boiler houses on May 1 were transferred from Kyivenergo to municipally owned Kyivteploenergo, which was created to manage the city's heating systems.
In August, Kyivteploenergo also received thermal power generating facilities – thermal power plants No. 5 and No. 6, and Kyiv's Energia incineration plant.
On October 9, Kyivteploenergo signed the debt settlement agreement with National Joint-Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine on the succession of obligations worth UAH 2.4 billion in debts and penalties accumulated by the previous operator, Kyivenergo, for consumed gas.