When apartment building residents are on the brink… there’s a chance to be saved
When electricity and water disappear in apartment buildings during wartime, and pumps stop working, threatening the functionality of sewage systems and elevators, the lives of residents turn into continuous trials. But everything can change if one truly desires it.
The situation in the 17-story building at 19B Hryhorii Kochura Street in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district was typical for such a scenario: people lived without hot water for five years, and the building’s utilities were practically never repaired – they were in a terrible state. The elevators in the building were not operational. “Complaints and appeals to the housing maintenance office and various authorities yielded no results. This became the reason to initiate changes,” Valerii Pindyk, head of the Association “OSBB Solomianskyi District of Kyiv City,” tells “Glavkom.”
The housing maintenance office practically never repaired the building’s utilities Photo: glavcom.ua
This story can serve as a guide for those who wish to live in comfortable conditions even during wartime but don’t know how to achieve it. Furthermore, many city programs in Kyiv provide financial assistance for the modernization of OSBBs (Condominium Associations) and Housing Construction Cooperatives (ZhBK). Unfortunately, similar programs are significantly fewer in other cities.
Valerii Pindyk: “The only way to change something in your building is to create an OSBB” Photo: glavcom.ua
Utility Trials…
Changes in the aforementioned 17-story building began on the eve of winter 2023 when, due to power outages, the building’s water and heating pumps ceased to function. The residents faced the threat of cold, and naturally, they no longer wanted to live like this. The residents reached the limit of terrible ordeals and finally understood: action had to be taken.
Nearby, multi-story buildings loomed where the amenities of civilization practically never disappeared, and windows were always lit. Therefore, the residents of the 17-story building approached Valerii Pindyk to clarify what an OSBB is, why it is needed, and what the action plan should be to escape the utility abyss. He explained everything and advised: first and foremost, create an OSBB. It would be beneficial because city programs for co-financing the rather costly modernization of the building would immediately become available.
“People understandingly asked for help and to manage this building further. We created ‘OSBB ‘Nasha Oselia 19/1.’ The residents supported my first proposal – to buy a generator to power the heating and cold water pumps,” says Valerii Pindyk. Ultimately, he became the manager of affairs in this building – resolving all issues.
Within two weeks, the residents raised funds to purchase a generator. After its activation, electricity appeared in the building, the heating system and cold water pumps started working, and immediately, water flowed from every tap, and heating fluid filled every radiator.
First Winter with a Generator
The purchased generator ran on gasoline. The residents themselves bought fuel daily and delivered it to the building. “For the first two months, people took turns, and when the power went out, they started the generator themselves. Then we collected more funds and purchased additional equipment that automatically started and switched the generator in case of a power outage in the network,” Pindyk explained.
Incidentally, there were no funds on the OSBB account for the generator’s purchase yet, as residents receive bills from the OSBB at the end of the month, meaning they pay for the past month. The OSBB purchased the generator just two weeks after its establishment. The initiative of the board chairman was supported by the vast majority of residents: people made voluntary contributions to a specially created account.
With the acquisition of the generator, residents experienced remarkable changes during the 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 by the next winter of 2024-2025 – a personal 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 station (SPS), which could power all the communal equipment in the building. And it started operating in 2024. The own SPS, costing 950,000 UAH, had a capacity of 100 kW. Residents began saving on electricity.
“The residents liked the idea of acquiring a solar station. After all, there is sun even in winter. The station starts saving people’s money and, consequently, can pay for its acquisition costs. But the question arose: where to get the money – it’s almost a million. The building itself is small, only 102 apartments. No one was ready to collect such a large sum immediately,” recalls Valerii Pindyk. With extensive experience in managing OSBBs, he already knew well how to secure assistance from Kyiv’s city fund.
The residents of the apartment building quite quickly obtained a preferential loan from the Revolving Fund of Kyiv (SE “Fund for Modernization of Residential Buildings of Kyiv”) for implementing energy-efficient measures amounting to 950,000 UAH for 5 years. Later, they also managed to receive a compensation for part of the spent funds from the Energy Efficiency Fund under the GreenDom program for over 520,000 UAH. After receiving this compensation, the OSBB immediately returned part of the money to the Revolving Fund and, by changing the loan 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 station, instead of the generator, began powering the internal building pumps for the heating, hot and cold water supply systems, as well as lighting in the stairwells, i.e., all common areas, and intercoms. However, there were problems with the elevators.
To power the elevators from the solar station, they need special equipment. But in most apartment buildings, the elevator infrastructure is old – almost 75% of apartment buildings have elevators of Russian or Belarusian origin. According to Valerii Pindyk, this equipment cannot be powered by a solar station; it couldn’t 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 cabin – we received completely new equipment. As soon as both elevators were modernized – the freight and the passenger ones – we immediately powered them from the solar station,” explained Valerii Pindyk. “The motor of one elevator consumed about 20 kW per hour, but after modernization, it now consumes 5.5 kW.”
However, to make the elevators work, the capacity of the solar station had to be increased. This was achieved through the city program “Competition of Projects for Implementation of Energy-Efficient Measures in Residential Buildings” for OSBBs and ZhBKs. Under this program, the city covers up to 70% of the work cost, and the remaining 30% is borne by the OSBB members. The OSBB approached the city with a commissioned project for a powerful solar station, 30% of whose cost the OSBB had already fully covered with its own (loan) funds – for the aforementioned amount of 950,000 UAH. The remaining part, which constituted 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, considering that there are few sunny days in winter, the house’s solar station generation is not always sufficient. Therefore, in such cases, the batteries automatically switch to power from the city’s power grid. When power is lost from the grid, the building continues to be powered by the batteries. When power returns, the system automatically starts charging. If the sun appears, the system is configured so that it is the priority source. Therefore, the batteries are charged first from the solar power station.
The system is coordinated by an inverter – equipment that connects the city’s electrical network, solar panels, and batteries. Valerii Pindyk explains that the inverter is conventionally called a computer, which sees: if there is sun, the 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 is lost, 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 19B Hryhorii Kochura Street took second place in the “OSBB Award of the Year” competition Photo: glavcom.ua
Windows, Doors Replaced, Pipes in the Basement Insulated
Since the housing maintenance 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 financial assistance to newly established OSBBs. For a building with 102 apartments, the assistance amounted to 1.5 million UAH. These funds were used for the partial replacement of windows and doors in common areas, which improved heat retention inside the building.
Then, Valerii Pindyk adds, the OSBB applied for another city program, “70/30”: “So that part of the work is counted as ours – 30%, and for 70% we could replace the remaining windows and doors for which we lacked funds. We also managed to use these funds to fully insulate the heating and water pipes in the basement and on the technical floor – so that the pipes do not heat the basement and attic. This reduced heat loss.”
In all common areas of the building, light fixtures with motion sensors were installed. Considering that each of the 17 floors has 4-5 light fixtures that 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 SPS – inverters and 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 the 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), and repairs of stairwells. And then – facade insulation of the building, but that’s astronomical money, and we are not ready for it yet,” admits Valerii Pindyk. According to him, over 2.5 years, more than one 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 stations is almost nine years. However, the lighting project with motion sensors and LED lamps will pay off much faster.
Residents of the 17-story building received significant financial support thanks to city programs for OSBBs and ZhBKs Photo: glavcom.ua
How People Have Changed
The residents of the modernized buildings understood: the creation of an OSBB became a lifeline for them. Thanks to city programs, they managed to receive enormous financial support. In contrast, buildings without alternative power supply froze completely in winter. People began to realize that the only way out was to modernize their building themselves.
“When I meet people, I hear many words of gratitude. I won’t say from everyone, but from the vast majority. And despite the fact that the payment amount has not yet decreased, as 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 realized that thanks to solar generation, they now save on utilities, forget about power outages, do not walk to the 17th floor, always have water from the taps, and energy-saving lighting works in common areas.
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” (Artist) has been established there. Denys Skorenko, the initiator of all renovations in this OSBB, shared the achievements in the press: “In summer, we can generate and store enough energy to cover nighttime consumption needs. In June-August 2023, we covered common building needs with our own generation. Annually, the savings on electricity consumption for OSBB needs are about 40%,” summarizes 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?
Valerii Pindyk assures: for him, there is no such concept as “technical problems.” “You hire an appropriate design organization that calculates everything and then performs 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 done with city funds, then the city itself conducted tenders and selected the contracting company. As for the work done with the residents’ own funds, according to the law, the board of the OSBB makes the decisions – it is the executive body elected by the apartment owners and trusted by them.”
It is worth reminding that an OSBB receives funds from residents only for building maintenance. Funds for heating, water, and electricity are received by the providers of these services, with which the OSBB has no relation. If someone has debts to the OSBB, the law allows restricting co-owners’ use of common property. In the aforementioned 17-story building, residents with debts exceeding three months are restricted from using the elevator. A key allows entry into the building but not into the elevator, so debtors walk – sometimes up to the 17th floor. Such restrictions force people to pay, albeit with a delay.
Some OSBBs also have those who refuse to pay, although the law on OSBBs clearly outlines the powers and duties of co-owners. If the general meeting has made a certain decision by a majority vote, the building’s co-owners are obliged to comply. If someone disagrees, only the court can determine who is right.
Other OSBBs solve the problem of non-payment in their own way. For example, OSBB “Mashynobudivnykiv 17-a” (Vyshneve, Buchanskyi district) purchased a 70 kW gasoline generator in the first winter of the full-scale war. It ensures the operation of pumps supplying hot water and heating to all 14 floors. Therefore, people there did not freeze during the -20 degrees Celsius cold. The city’s thermal power plant supplies heat to the building. “This year, plans 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 500 UAH 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 of Energy Development of Ukraine, told “Glavkom.” “Therefore, we periodically subject non-payers to public condemnation in our building’s Viber group, and at the next OSBB meeting, we will decide to include fuel costs in the tariff.”
To popularize energy-efficient measures in apartment buildings, the League of 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 electricity 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 currently, only 3-4% of OSBBs have such sources.
Natalka Prudka, “Glavkom”