A man's Chevrolet Niva was seized over unpaid heating bills; he tried to stop the tow truck

September 10, a resident of Mykolaiv region had his car seized due to a long-standing debt for heating. The debt to the municipal utility company «Mykolaivoblteploenergo» exceeded 78 thousand hryvnias.

This concerns a 59-year-old man who had not paid for heat supply services for a long time. Employees of the enterprise’s debt department acted together with representatives of the enforcement service, the police and the state enterprise «SETAM».

Within the enforcement proceedings they found a CHEVROLET NIVA 2008 model belonging to the debtor. The vehicle was being sought, after which it was inventoried and seized.

During the seizure the man tried to obstruct the procedure: he climbed onto the tow truck to prevent the vehicle from being loaded. A police investigative-operational group was called to the scene.

In the end the car was taken to the «SETAM» site for appraisal and possible sale. After that the debtor agreed to comply with the court decision, pay the debt and sign a restructuring agreement for part of the sum. In addition to the principal debt, he must reimburse costs related to the enforcement proceedings.

“This situation shows: heating debts do not disappear by themselves. Ignoring payments can lead to court, the seizure of property and its forced sale. We are ready to seek ways to resolve cases, including through restructuring,” — emphasized those at “Mykolaivoblteploenergo”.

Against the background of this story it is noted that utility debts in Ukraine have reached a record level. Mykolaiv region entered the top 3 regions of Ukraine by the volume of such debt.

Earlier we wrote:

• Ukrainians owe 104.2 billion hryvnias for utilities
• Mykolaiv region — among the top three regions with the largest number of new utility debts
• Mykolaiv residents’ debt for heating exceeded 275 million hryvnias: courts issued 903 rulings in half a year
• Apartment over debts: in Kyiv a pensioner lost housing that is now being sold with an 800,000 hryvnia markup
• Residents of Mykolaiv owe almost 277 million hryvnias for heating