USAID Grants Have Failed: How Housing and Utilities Reform Has Burdened Ukrainians with Debt.

The Housing and Utilities Reform in Ukraine Has Catastrophic Consequences for the Population

Energy expert Oleg Popenko stated that the reform financed by USAID has not brought improvements, but rather worsened the situation. According to him, after the implementation of new laws on multi-apartment building management and commercial accounting, the debt of the population for utility services increased by 200 billion hryvnias.

'These laws, developed with grant funding, turned out to be anti-European and anti-civilizational in their essence. No country adopted such norms that our grantors wrote for the benefit of monopolists,' emphasized Popenko.

The expert points out that the laws intended to bring Ukraine closer to European standards actually contradict the norms of developed countries. 'When you allocate 3 million dollars for the development of laws in the housing and utilities sector, you should involve real specialists. And the norms that were adopted - regarding commercial accounting and housing and utility services - contradict both European and American experience,' said Popenko.

According to the expert, the main problem lies in the fact that the laws defend the interests of monopolists rather than consumers. The accumulated debts of the population amounting to 200 billion hryvnias cannot be resolved without a systematic audit of the entire industry. 'This requires a complete audit of the entire system, but no one is engaged in this, because there is neither public order nor state order, and no grants will be given for this,' emphasized Popenko.

The expert called for an urgent review of the legislation in the housing and utilities sector, as without this the situation will deteriorate and the debts of the population will grow.