Since the beginning of the year, almost 25,000 new water debts have appeared in Ukraine

In January-August 2026, 24,696 new enforcement proceedings appeared in the Unified Register of Debtors due to non-payment for water supply and sewerage. This is 19% less than for the same period last year. This is evidenced by data from Opendatabot.

Overall, as of the beginning of September, the Register contained 173,075 proceedings for water debts. At that, 64% of them are formally completed. Opendatabot emphasizes that completion of enforcement proceedings does not necessarily mean debt repayment - the case could have been closed due to inability to collect or for other reasons, while the record continues to remain in the Register.

The largest number of new proceedings this year was opened in Dnipropetrovsk region - 6,923, or 28% of the total. In second place is Sumy region with 3,662 proceedings, followed by Mykolaiv - 2,191, Poltava - 1,873, and Khmelnytskyi - 1,415.

The fewest new cases were recorded in Zhytomyr region - only two. In Kherson region there were 18, in Vinnytsia region - 40, in Kyiv - 59, and in Rivne region - 111.

Most often, recoveries were initiated at the request of the utility company "Kryvbasvodokanal" - 3,653 proceedings, or about 15% of all new cases. The utility company "Gorvodokanal" of Sumy City Council has 3,153 proceedings, Municipal Utility Company "Mykolaivvodokanal" - 2,100, Utility Company of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council "Aulskyi Vodovid" - 1,699, and "Khmelnytskvodokanal" - 1,309.

The largest share of new debts falls on Ukrainians aged 46 to 60 - 8,335 proceedings, or almost 34%. Another about 26% of cases were opened against people aged 36-45, and more than a fifth - against debtors over 60 years old.

Opendatabot also recorded cases when as many as six enforcement proceedings were opened against one person during a year. The oldest water debt that still remains in the Register dates back to January 2017.

Against the background of accumulating debts, communities continue to review water tariffs. Since March 2026, tariffs for centralized water supply and sewerage are temporarily set by local self-government bodies or military administrations, which causes their levels to differ significantly depending on the community.

Based on materials from: Opendatabot