Vilnius residents had been expecting higher heating bills, but were still shocked when they arrived. Higher rates and colder-than-usual December more than doubled heating costs compared to last year's level.
Dalia and her family live in a 67-square-metre apartment in an unrenovated building built in 1988. She will have to pay more than 150 euros for December’s heating – 115 percent more than last year.
“I knew I would have to pay more, but not this much. I was shocked because I will have to spend 20 percent of my salary on heating alone,” Dalia said.
People living in newer houses have not escaped higher heating bills either. For example, Andrius, who lives in an 80-square-metre house built in 2006, will have to pay 200 euros for December’s heating.
“This is cosmic... The radiators were not turned up to full capacity, but the bill is still huge,” Andrius said. “I don’t receive any compensation, and I will have to pay more than 400 euros for all the utilities, internet, and fuel. Then, there’s also the mortgage. There is no chance of saving anything up.”
Further increase
Across the city, heating bills this December were between two and two-and-a-half times higher than in 2020, according to Laurynas Jakubauskas, head of the Customer Service Department at Vilnius Heating Networks (Vilniaus Šilumos Tinklai).
People living in a 50-square-metre apartment in an unrenovated house on average paid 123 euros for heating in December 2021, compared to 47 euros in 2020.
Those living in a similar apartment in a newly built or renovated house paid 70 euros for December’s heating, as opposed to 31 euros a year before.
Two reasons influenced higher heating bills, according to Jokubauskas.
“December 2021 was much colder. The average monthly temperature was 3.7 degrees below zero, compared to 0.2 degrees below zero in December 2020. The demand for heating energy in Vilnius increased by around 15 percent,” he said.
“The other reason is the increase in gas and biofuel prices, which had an impact on the cost of production,” Jokubauskas added.
Vilnius residents pay more for heating than people in other major Lithuanian cities because the capital uses more gas to produce heat.
According to Jokubauskas, heating prices are expected to stay the same or increase even further in January and February.
“[People] shouldn’t expect lower bills. January and February are real winter months. […] There is also no hope that gas prices will go down, even though we would like that,” he said.
Vilnius residents who cannot afford high heating bills can ask Vilnius Heating Networks to delay part of the payment. So far, around 30 people have asked to use this measure.
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