The debt of the population of the Vitebsk region for utility payments decreased by 3.1% in January-April

June 2, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The population's utility bill arrears in the Vitebsk region in January-April decreased by 3.1% compared to the same period in 2009, reaching Br27.8 billion, the Housing and Communal Services Department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informed a BELTA correspondent. Of this amount, overdue arrears amounted to Br7.7 billion. As of May 1, a total of 333.1 thousand families in the region were registered as non-payers. The largest number of debtors reside in Orsha (4.5 thousand families, or 11.5% of all payers), Polotsk (3.9 thousand families, or 12.2% respectively), Orsha district (2.8 thousand families, or 37.6%), Vitebsk district (2 thousand families, or 21.7%), Shumilino district (1.7 thousand families, or 20.4%), and Rossony district (1.3 thousand families, or 25.1%). Vitebsk, Novopolotsk, Dokshitsy district, Polotsk district, Verkhnedvinsk district, Liozno district, and Miory district, where the number of non-payers is less than 9%, stand out favorably from them. The initiative-driven approach to working with non-payers has helped utility workers stabilize the situation with utility bill arrears, the department noted. For example, posting boards with the names of defaulters in housing and communal services departments, publishing their lists in the local press, home visits, phone calls, and other methods have proven effective. However, when all means of combating arrears are exhausted and the amount of debt becomes astronomical, malicious non-payers are evicted through the courts. In the Vitebsk region, 14 families have lost their homes in this manner since the beginning of the year, and lawsuits against another 39 are currently under consideration. -0-