Recently, the initiative of freeing members of families of anti-terrorist operation zone (ATO) participants from paying for housing and communal services is spreading in Ukraine. Local authorities of Chernihiv region are participating as well.

On August 26, during the meeting of the head of regional administration, Chernihiv Community Law Center and relatives of combatants the opportunities to support families of ATO participants, including providing land plots, paperwork and communal services relief, were discussed. The head of the Center Viktor Tarasov told how is this problem solved in other regions of Ukraine.

In September the regional administration initiated the instruction to local administrations so that the members of families of those soldiers who defend the country in Eastern regions did not pay for housing and communal services.

This initiative was supported both by local administrations and by self-government institutions, as the director of the Department of housing and living infrastructure and regional development Petro Holovach said during the meeting in regional administration. The families of ATO participants in Ichnya and Prylutskiy and Koropskiy regions are already exempted from paying for housing and communal services.

In Novhorod-Siverskiy there is a business which checks ventilation channels for families of ATO participants free of charge. Besides, the families of ATO participants who address the self-government institutions will be exempted from paying for housing and communal services.

In Pryluki there is 75% discount for communal services for combatants. Besides, the deputies of city council will discuss the legislative act “On preferences for families of combatants who died during ATO”.

The legislative act “On cancelling the communal payments for family members of ATO combatants” is being worked upon in Chernihiv city Council. It will be discussed by the deputies during the next session.

The mechanism of reimbursement of money for housing and communal services for families of ATO participants will be discussed during the next sessions of Bobrovitska, Borznyanska, Menska, Nosivska, Sribnyanska and Shchorska regional councils.

Nizhyn city council provided material aid for family members of ATO combatants from the local budget.

The main task both for the state and for the public activists is to support all families of soldiers who defend our country now.