Residents of a city in the Volgograd region will be able to pay for heating in installments, but with interest. 

Authorities Volzhsky Residents were offered the option to pay their heating bills in installments. However, interest will still be charged. 

From January 1st in the region has changed Heating payment system: Previously, payments were split over 12 months; now, Volgograd residents will only receive bills for seven months of the heating season. However, the bills have increased—due to both the reduction in the number of months and the rate increases in the fall and January. For many consumers, these bills have proven unaffordable. 

"Payment by installments is granted automatically if the amount in the new billing period exceeds the payment for the same period last year by more than 25%."- сообщили in Volzhskie Teploseti.  

However, the installment plan will not be provided free of charge and will be more like a loan: interest will be charged, “the amount of which cannot be higher than the Central Bank of the Russian Federation’s refinancing rate increased by 3 percent.”

In early January, a State Duma deputy proposed Allow Russians to pay for housing and communal services on credit. The news was perceived as a cruel joke, but in Volzhsky it has already become a reality.

In February, Russians complained about rising utility rates—they increased so much that some people couldn't pay their bills. People contacted the Federal Antimonopoly Service, which conducted an investigation and said: there were no increases at all, there was only an adjustment of 1,7% in connection with the increase in VAT to 22 percent.