According to Open4business, the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions accounted for about half of all new enforcement proceedings related to utility debts initiated in Ukraine during the first half of 2026.
The highest number of new cases was recorded in the Kharkiv region—22,171 thousand, or about 20% of the national total, according to a study by Opendatabot published on August 3.
The Dnipropetrovsk region ranked second with 19,636 thousand cases, accounting for 18% of new utility debt cases.
The Mykolaiv region came in third with 12,841 thousand cases, or about 12% of the total.
In total, 54,648 thousand enforcement proceedings were initiated in these three regions—slightly more than half of the 108,561 thousand new cases across Ukraine.
The statistics specifically account for enforcement proceedings, not individual consumers. Multiple cases may be opened against a single person, for example, for heating, water, gas, or electricity.
As of early July 2026, there were 829,768 thousand utility debts listed in the Unified Register of Debtors. Sixty-five percent of the enforcement proceedings initiated during the first half of the year remained open and unpaid.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, UKRAINE, Utility debt
In Ukraine, from January through June 2026, 108,561 thousand new enforcement proceedings were initiated due to arrears in housing and utility services, according to data from the Unified Register of Debtors published by Opendatabot on August 3.
70,206 thousand cases remain open and unpaid, or 65% of those initiated this year. They account for about 9% of all utility debts currently recorded in the registry.
In total, as of early July, the Unified Register of Debtors contained 829,768 thousand cases related to utility debt. For comparison: in November 2025, there were 794,604 thousand; in July 2024, 701,051 thousand; and in January 2021, 344,565 thousand.
Thus, over five and a half years, the number of utility debt entries has increased by approximately 2.4 times.
About 62% of the cases in the registry are formally closed, but this does not necessarily mean that the debt has been repaid. An enforcement officer may close a case due to the impossibility of collection or for other reasons, while the debt record remains in the registry.
Some cases have remained open for more than nine years. Among the oldest cases are a heating debt owed by a resident of the Chernihiv region and a debt for water supply and sewer services owed by a resident of the Lviv region.
However, the number of enforcement proceedings does not equal the number of unique debtors: multiple cases may be opened against a single person regarding different services or periods of debt.
The Unified Register of Debtors contains information on individuals and legal entities against whom enforcement proceedings have been initiated. You can check for an entry through the state register or the Opendatabot service.
debtor, enforcement proceedings, REGISTER, UKRAINE, Utility debt
