Preparations for the 2026/27 heating season: regions strengthen the resilience of their energy and utilities infrastructure

Chaired by Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities and Territories Development, the first meeting of the Headquarters for the Preparation of Housing and Utilities Facilities and the Fuel and Energy Sector for the 2026/27 autumn-winter period took place.

Participants discussed the regions’ state of preparedness for the heating season, the stockpiling of energy resources, and the readiness of critical infrastructure to operate in the face of potential attacks.

“We are now facing our fifth heating season amidst a full-scale war. Our task is to do everything possible to ensure that communities are prepared for any scenario. Work is already underway to repair networks, restore damaged facilities, stockpile the necessary resources and install distributed generation facilities. The uninterrupted provision of housing and communal services to people next winter depends on the pace of this work,” emphasised Oleksii Kuleba.

During the meeting, particular attention was paid to the capital’s preparations for the coming heating season. Reports on the progress of preparatory measures were also given by the heads of the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Poltava regions – areas that face daily enemy attacks and require special attention when planning the operation of critical infrastructure facilities.

Key items on the agenda include the country’s overall level of preparedness for winter, the status of natural gas and other energy resource reserves, and the progress made in implementing the Comprehensive Resilience Plans for regions and individual cities, approved by the President of Ukraine.

Across the country, 2,582 boiler houses, nearly 3,000 kilometres of heating networks and over 1,000 central heating stations have already been prepared for operation. Over UAH 1 billion has been allocated for preparatory and repair work.

Particular emphasis has been placed on the development of distributed heat generation and increasing the energy sufficiency of local communities. The state has earmarked UAH 5 billion for the implementation of relevant measures to be used to purchase and install modular boiler houses, modernise the heating infrastructure and enhance the resilience of heat supply systems.

During the meeting, participants also discussed the progress of planned repairs to boiler houses, heating networks and central heating stations, as well as the build-up of stocks of coal, liquid fuel and other material and technical resources necessary to ensure a stable passage of autumn and winter period.

Following the meeting, the regional and Kyiv city military administrations were instructed to ensure compliance with the timetables for preparations for the heating season, to accelerate the implementation of measures under the Comprehensive Resilience Plans, to step up efforts to secure international aid for housing and communal services enterprises, and to ensure continuous monitoring of the progress of preparatory work.

As a reminder, previously, the Government allocated UAH 3 billion from the State Budget’s reserve fund to the development of distributed heat generation, specifically for the purchase of modular boiler units and their components, as well as for installation and construction work. In total, over UAH 67 billion will be allocated to the implementation of the Sustainability Plans.