Analyzing the Structure of the Ukrainian Market of Heat Energy Producers

The aim of the article is to study the structure of the market of heat energy producers by organizational and legal forms of economic management and by types of ownership, to determine on this basis the directions of reforming the communal heat and power industry. To achieve the aforementioned goal, the available regional registers of licensees-economic entities in the field of heat supply, as well as the resolutions of the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission on the issuance of licenses and/or setting the tariffs for heat energy, are analyzed. The accomplished analysis covers the period from 2014 to the first half of 2023 inclusive. 980 economic entities that carried out economic activity during the analyzed period, among them 844 that operated at the end of this period, are identified. These economic entities have different forms of ownership and different organizational and legal forms of economic management. It is determined that the well-known statement that the municipal heat and power industry has been in a state of crisis is valid only for the communal utilities operating large district heating systems. Such enterprises are characterized by a high level of wear and tear of equipment, unsatisfactory financial condition, and inefficient management of the enterprise. Along with the latter, the private sector enterprises are actively developing in Ukraine. Of the total number of economic entities included in the sample (844), more than half (492) are private enterprises, limited liability companies, or individual entrepreneurs. Such economic entities operate effectively in regional markets without receiving any subsidies from local budgets; many of them have been around for more than 10 years. On the basis of the performed analysis, directions of reforming heat and power enterprises of various forms of ownership, first of all, the State-owned and municipal enterprises, are suggested. It is proposed, when expecting an increase in the level of management of a municipal utility enterprise, in particular, to have all kinds of activities unbundled and to implement the outsourcing of the non-core functions. Prospects for further research on this topic would be the study of the organization of heat supply in certain regions and settlements of Ukraine.