Kharkiv accumulated 35 billion hryvnia in service debts.
The city owes almost double its annual budget for electricity and gas, said Oleg Popenko, head of the consumer union. Despite the growing financial burden, free public transportation remains in effect.
Popenko noted that while the decision was justified in 2022, it should have been reviewed after the situation stabilized at the end of 2023. "It was necessary to reverse this decision to prevent the city from reaching these catastrophic debts," he stressed.