Technical Area (Sectoral) Profile: Housing and Utilities in Ukraine

These enterprises provide a range of services to the population, including maintenance of the housing stock, centralized water supply and sewage, centralized district heating, landscaping and urban improvements, solid waste removal, recycling, and disposal, and urban public transportation. In individual cases, utility companies based on common property of local communities operate on a regional oblast level. The market of utility services is gradually being approached by private companies, primarily in the sector of urban automobile transportation, removal and processing of solid waste, and maintenance of residential buildings. The authority of local governments in the housing and utilities sector includes providing citizens with housing and utility services of the required quality, setting tariffs for housing and utility services, identifying providers of housing and utility services, and appointing and dismissing heads of housing and utility companies. Tariffs for housing and utility services are set and approved by village, town, and city councils, with the exception of heat suppliers with a total capacity of heat supply sources above 20 giga calories/year and centralized water supply and sewage services for not less than 100,000 persons in 2010, which are set and approved by the National Commission for Regulation of Utility Services. The current legal framework for local government activities in the housing and utilities sector is governed by a range of laws and resolutions. These include the Housing Code of the Ukrainian SSR, the Law of Ukraine "On Privatisation of the State-Owned Housing Stock," the Law of Ukraine "On Local Self-Governance in Ukraine," and the Law of Ukraine "On Housing and Utility Services." Resolutions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, such as the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of March 02, 1999, Case # 1-18/99, and the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of November 25, 2009, Case # 2-57/2009, have also played a significant role in shaping the legal framework for the sector. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has also issued a range of resolutions that govern the housing and utilities sector. These include Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 470 of December 11, 1984, Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 572 of October 08, 1992, and Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 1010 of July 26, 2006. These resolutions cover a range of topics, including the mechanism for implementation of the Law of Ukraine "On Privatisation of State-Owned Housing Stock," the procedures for holding a competition to render housing and utility services, and the procedures for tariff setting for solid waste management services. The housing and utilities sector in Ukraine is a complex and multifaceted area that is governed by a range of laws, resolutions, and regulations. The sector is primarily managed by enterprises established by village, town, or city councils on the basis of communal property, and the authority of local governments includes providing citizens with housing and utility services of the required quality, setting tariffs for housing and utility services, identifying providers of housing and utility services, and appointing and dismissing heads of housing and utility companies.