When high-rise residents are on the brink… there’s a chance to be saved
When during a war in apartment buildings, electricity and water disappear, pumps stop working, and the sewage system is at risk, the lives of residents turn into constant trials. But everything can be changed if one truly wants it.
The situation in a 17-story building at Hryhoriy Kochur Street No. 19, building 1, in the Solomianskyi district of the capital was typical for such a scenario: people lived without hot water for five years, and the building’s communications were practically never repaired – they were in a terrible state. The elevators in the building were not working. “Complaints and appeals to the housing office and various authorities yielded no results. This became the reason to start changes,” Valeriy Pindyk, head of the Association “OSBB Solomianskyi district of Kyiv,” tells Glavcom.
The housing office practically never repaired the building’s communications photo: glavcom.ua
This story can serve as a guide for those who want to live in comfortable conditions even during wartime but don’t know how to achieve it. Moreover, many city programs in Kyiv provide financial assistance for the modernization of OSBBs and housing cooperatives (HBC). Unfortunately, there are significantly fewer such programs in other cities.
Valeriy Pindyk: “The only way to change something in your building is to create an OSBB” photo: glavcom.ua
Communal Trials…
Changes in the aforementioned 17-story building began on the eve of the winter of 2023, when due to power outages, the building’s water and heating pumps stopped working. People faced the threat of cold, and naturally, they no longer wanted to live like this. Residents reached the limit of terrible trials and finally understood: action was needed.
And in the neighboring high-rise buildings, even during the war, the amenities of civilization practically never disappeared; the windows were always lit. Therefore, the residents of the 17-story building turned to Valeriy Pindyk for clarification on what an OSBB is, why it is needed, and what the action plan should be to escape the communal pit. He explained everything and advised: first and foremost, create an OSBB. This would be beneficial because city programs for co-financing quite costly building modernization would immediately become available.
“People understandingly asked for help and to manage this building further. We created ‘OSBB ‘Nasha Oselia 19/1′.’ People supported my first proposal – to buy a generator to power the heating and cold water pumps,” says Valeriy Pindyk. Ultimately, he became the manager of this building – handling all its problems.
Within two weeks, people raised funds to purchase a generator, after which the building received electricity, the heating and cold water pumps started working, and immediately, water appeared in every tap, and coolant in every radiator.
First Winter with a Generator
The purchased generator ran on gasoline. Residents themselves bought fuel daily and delivered it to the building. “For the first two months, people took turns, and when the electricity was cut off, they started the generator themselves. Then we raised more funds and bought additional equipment that automatically started and switched the generator in case of a power outage,” Pindyk explained.
By the way, the OSBB account did not yet have funds for the generator purchase, as people receive invoices from the OSBB after the end of the month, meaning they pay for the month that has already passed. And the OSBB bought the generator just two weeks after its creation. The initiative of the chairman of the board was supported by the vast majority of residents: people made voluntary contributions to a specially created account.
With the purchase of the generator, residents felt a striking change in the very first winter of 2023-2024, which justified the creation of the OSBB. However, throughout the winter, significant funds had to be spent on fuel for the generator, its delivery, and maintenance. Therefore, everyone understood: it is advisable to act further before the next winter of 2024-2025 – a self-sufficient source of electricity generation needs to be installed.
Solar Station Instead of a Generator
At a regular OSBB meeting, the residents of the 17-story building decided to install a solar power plant (SPP), which could power all the communal equipment in the building. And it started working in 2024. The private SPP, costing UAH 950,000, had a capacity of 100 kW. Residents began to save on electricity.
“The idea of purchasing a solar station appealed to the residents. After all, there is sun even in winter. The station begins to save people’s money and, consequently, will be able to cover its acquisition costs. But the question arose: where to get the money – it’s almost a million. The building itself is not large, only 102 apartments. No one was ready to raise such a large sum immediately,” recalls Valeriy Pindyk. With extensive experience in managing OSBBs, he already knew well how to secure assistance from the Kyiv city fund.
Quite quickly, the residents of the apartment building took out a preferential loan from the Kyiv Revolving Fund (State Enterprise “Fund for Modernization of Housing Stock of Kyiv”) for the implementation of energy-efficient measures amounting to UAH 950,000 for 5 years. Later, they also managed to receive compensation for part of the spent funds from the Energy Efficiency Fund under the Green Home program for over UAH 520,000. Having received this compensation, the OSBB immediately repaid part of the money to the Revolving Fund and, by changing the contract terms, reduced the loan period from five to two years. The OSBB is currently finishing the repayment of the remaining loan.
Elevators Modernized with City Funds
In the autumn of 2024, the solar power plant, instead of the generator, began to power the internal pumps of the heating, hot and cold water supply systems, as well as the lighting in the entrance, i.e., all common areas, and intercoms. However, there were problems with the elevators.
To power the elevators from the solar station, they must have special equipment. However, in most apartment buildings, the elevator infrastructure is old – almost 75% of apartment buildings have elevators of Russian or Belarusian origin. According to Valeriy Pindyk, this equipment cannot be powered by a solar station; it could not handle the motors.
“The next step – we applied for city co-financing programs for elevator modernization. As a result, we replaced the motor, gearbox, all electronics, and the elevator car – we got completely new equipment. As soon as both elevators were modernized – both the freight and passenger ones – we immediately powered them from the solar station,” said Valeriy Pindyk. “The motor of one elevator consumed about 20 kW per hour, but after modernization, it now consumes 5.5 kW.”
However, to get the elevators working, the capacity of the solar station had to be increased. This was achieved using funds from the city program “Competition of projects for the implementation of energy-efficient measures in residential buildings” for OSBBs and HBCs. Under this program, the city covers up to 70% of the work cost, and the remaining 30% is covered by OSBB members. The OSBB approached the city with a commissioned project for a powerful solar station, 30% of which the OSBB had already fully covered with its own (credit) funds – for the mentioned amount of UAH 950,000. The remaining part, equal to 70% of the project cost, was paid by the city. Now, even the building’s elevators are connected to the solar station. This equipment consumes the most electricity in the building.
However, given that there are few sunny days in winter, the generation from the solar station is not always sufficient for the building’s needs. Therefore, in such cases, the batteries automatically switch to being powered by the city’s power grid. When there is a power outage in the grid, the building continues to be powered by the batteries. When power returns, the system automatically starts charging. If the sun comes out, the system is configured so that it is the primary source. Therefore, the batteries are charged first from the solar power plant.
The system is coordinated by an inverter – equipment that connects the city’s electrical grid, solar panels, and batteries. Valeriy Pindyk explains that the inverter is metaphorically called a computer, which sees: if there is sun, panels produce energy, it passes through itself and charges the battery. No sun – the inverter looks for electricity from the grid and charges the battery. Power outage – the inverter automatically switches and supplies the accumulated energy in the batteries to power the building’s electrical equipment.
OSBB in the 17-story building at Hryhoriy Kochur Street No. 19, building 1, took second place in the “OSBB of the Year Award” competition photo: glavcom.ua
Windows, Doors Replaced, Pipes in the Basement Insulated
Due to the fact that the housing office never repaired the internal building networks of the 17-story building, the OSBB took on this problem as well. The city administration also helps to resolve the situation – it provides one-time gratuitous financial assistance to newly formed OSBBs. For a building with 102 apartments, the assistance amounted to UAH 1.5 million. These funds were used for the partial replacement of windows and doors in common areas, which improved heat retention inside the building.
Then, Valeriy Pindyk adds, the OSBB applied for another city program “70 to 30”: “So that part of the work is credited as ours – 30%, and for 70% we could replace the remaining windows and doors for which we didn’t have enough funds. Also, with these funds, we were able to fully insulate the heating and water pipes in the basement and on the technical floor – so that the pipes don’t heat the basement and attic. This reduced heat loss.”
In the building, lights with motion sensors were installed in all common areas. Considering that each of the 17 floors has 4-5 such lights, which previously burned around the clock, the building sharply reduced its electricity consumption.
The last thing done at the beginning of 2026 was: under the state program “SvitloDim,” the OSBB purchased and installed equipment for the SPP – inverters, batteries. This allowed the previously purchased generator to be used for charging batteries as a backup source in case power outages last more than a day. If batteries discharge in winter due to lack of sun, the generator automatically turns on and starts charging the batteries.
Future Plans
“The next step we have planned is the installation of electronic heat distributors on each radiator (individual heat meters), repairs of stairwells. And then – facade insulation of the building, but that’s cosmic money, and we are not ready for it yet,” admits Valeriy Pindyk. According to him, over 2.5 years, more than a million hryvnias of own funds have been invested in the modernization of the 17-story building (102 apartments), and together with city and state programs, over 15 million hryvnias have been invested.
The payback period for solar power plants is almost nine years. However, the lighting project with motion sensors and LED lamps will pay for itself much faster.
Residents of the 17-story building received significant financial support thanks to city programs for OSBBs and HBCs photo: glavcom.ua
How People Have Changed
Residents of modernized buildings realized that creating an OSBB became a lifesaver for them. Thanks to city programs, they managed to receive substantial financial support. In contrast, buildings without alternative power froze completely in winter. People began to understand that the only way out was to independently modernize their building.
“When I meet people, I hear many thanks. I won’t say from everyone, but from the vast majority. And despite the fact that the payment amount has not decreased yet, because we are still finishing repaying the loan, people have felt a new quality of living in the building; they see everything and appreciate it,” states Pindyk. He has been dealing with OSBB issues for 14 years, managing seven buildings. During this time, he notes, he has not encountered pensioner debtors in his practice. “Pensioners are very disciplined people, and the vast majority of them (99%) pay for services first after receiving their pension.”
People understood: thanks to solar generation, they now save on utilities, forget about blackouts, don’t have to walk to the 17th floor, always have water in their taps, and common areas have energy-efficient lighting.
Solar Station at OSBB “Khudozhnyk” Saves About 40% of Electricity Annually
The energy from the solar station is sufficient for the needs of OSBB “Khudozhnyk” photo from open sources
Another example is a 16-story building in the central part of Kyiv. The building has 176 apartments, and OSBB “Khudozhnyk” has been established there. Denys Skorenko, the initiator of all renovations in this OSBB, shared the achieved successes in the press: “In summer, we can generate and store enough energy to cover night consumption needs. In June-August 2023, we covered building-wide needs with our own generation. Annually, the savings on electricity consumption for OSBB needs are about 40%,” concludes Skorenko.
Energy Efficiency is Available to Every OSBB
Summarizing the story of the modernization successes of Kyiv OSBBs, we seek answers to the questions: what was the most difficult – technical, financial problems, or people’s resistance?
Valeriy Pindyk assures: for him, there is no such concept as “technical problems.” “You hire a suitable design organization that calculates everything and then carries out the work, so I don’t see problems from this side. There were no conflicts with contractors or over money. If we are talking about work performed with city funds, the city itself conducted tenders and selected the contracting company. As for work performed with residents’ own funds, according to the law, the board of the OSBB makes decisions – it is the executive body elected by the apartment owners and trusted by them.”
It is worth reminding that OSBB receives funds from residents only for building maintenance. Funds for heating, water, and electricity are received by the suppliers of these services, with whom the OSBB has no relation. If someone has arrears to the OSBB, the law allows restricting co-owners’ use of common property. In the mentioned 17-story building, residents with arrears exceeding three months are restricted from using the elevator. The key to the entrance door allows entry into the building but not into the elevator, so debtors walk up the stairs – sometimes to the 17th floor. Such restrictions force people, albeit with a delay, to pay.
There are also OSBBs where some refuse to pay, although the law on OSBBs clearly outlines the powers of co-owners and their obligations. If the general meeting, by a majority vote, has made a certain decision, the co-owners of the building are obliged to comply with it. If someone disagrees, only the court can establish who is right.
In other OSBBs, the problem of non-payment is resolved differently. For example, OSBB “Mashynobudivnykiv 17-a” (Vyshneve, Buchanskyi district) purchased a 70 kW gasoline generator back in the first winter of the full-scale war. It ensures the operation of pumps that supply hot water and heat to all 14 floors. Therefore, people there did not freeze in -20 degrees Celsius. The city’s combined heat and power plant supplies heat to the building. “Plans for this year include connecting one of the two elevators in each of the five entrances and purchasing an energy storage unit. Regarding payments, during the winter period (December-February), there was an additional voluntary collection for fuel of UAH 500 from each apartment. However, unfortunately, only half of the building’s residents paid it,” Oleksandr Holizdra, a member of the audit committee of this OSBB and head of the League for Energy Development of Ukraine, told Glavcom. “Therefore, we periodically subject non-payers to public condemnation in our building’s Viber group, and at the upcoming OSBB meeting, we will decide to include fuel costs in the tariff.”
To promote energy-efficient measures in apartment buildings, the League for Energy Development of Ukraine has already conducted seven seminars on energy efficiency for OSBBs in regional centers of Ukraine. Surveyed participants of these events indicated that only one-third of OSBBs in Lutsk, Zhytomyr, and Rivne plan to install an alternative power source or a diesel generator. Last year, this figure was even lower – about 20% of OSBBs in Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, and Cherkasy planned such measures. And only 3-4% of OSBBs currently have such sources.
Natalka Prudka, “Glavcom”