Kiev turns off hot water to save gas after Russia supply cut. ("We are obliged to renounce hot water in order to save gas supplies for the winter")

KIEV: Kiev's inhabitants are bracing for chilly morning showers after hot water in the city was shut off on Monday (Aug 4) until October in a bid to save gas following Russia's decision to stop supplies.

"All the thermal power plants have had their gas supply cut as of August 4," said private firm Kievenergo, which is responsible for providing heating to Ukraine's capital city, home to some three million people.

Kiev mayor and former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko had said last week that the hot water stoppage, which usually lasts a few weeks every summer, was this year going to last until October.

Moscow decided to turn off the gas taps in mid-June over a bitter pricing dispute with Kiev that many saw as political retribution for the ouster of Kremlin-backed leader Viktor Yanukovych and Ukraine's subsequent pivot towards the West.

"We are obliged to renounce hot water in order to save gas supplies for the winter," said Klitschko, one of the leaders of the anti-Yanukovych protests. "I hope that residents in the city can understand."
October is when heating is traditionally turned on across Kiev ahead of the punishing winter months.
"If we don't start saving gas now then we will have big problems in winter," said another city official in charge of municipal services, Dmytro Novytsky.

- AFP/xq

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/kiev-turns-off-hot-water/1296494.html

4/8/14

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