Removed radiator and received a fine of one thousand kuna

After one of the apartment owners in Karlovac, who detached from the heating system by cutting the radiator, received a Mandatory Misdemeanor Order to pay a fine of one thousand kuna, the Karlovac Civic Initiative ‘I Don’t Want Heating Services’ sent an open letter today to President Ivo Josipović, announced the initiative coordinator Domagoj Švegar.

The Civic Initiative asks President Josipović to take all possible actions for which he is authorized to protect ‘the fundamental human rights and freedoms of citizens and to stop the monopolistic exploitation, which is being carried out under the protection of the State Inspectorate over thousands of Karlovci residents by the City Heating Plant.’
Attached to the detailed letter to President Josipović are copies with over 1,500 signatures from Karlovci residents, who believe that every apartment owner should have the right to choose the method of heating their home, and that this right should not be denied by their neighbors (the consent of all apartment owners is required) or the City Heating Plant.

The Mandatory Misdemeanor Order from the State Inspectorate, signed by Senior Economic Inspector Snježana Špehar, was received by Tomislav Beg (from the building in Karlovac’s Ivana Meštrovića Street), and it states ‘He is guilty of having dismantled the heating body (radiator) in July 2012 as the owner of an apartment and a tariff customer of thermal energy and by sealing the separation point of the pipes, he detached himself from the common heating system without the consent of the energy entity for the distribution and supply of thermal energy.’

In the explanation, Inspector Špehar refers to the Law on the Production, Distribution, and Supply of Thermal Energy, according to which tariff customers cannot detach from the heating system without the consent of the Heating Plant, and it is stipulated that a natural person who does so will be fined between 1,000 and 2,000 kuna.
Against this mandatory misdemeanor order, an appeal can be made within eight days, and the appeal is decided by the Misdemeanor Court in Karlovac. In the event that the monetary fine cannot be collected even through enforcement within one year, it states in the DI’s order, the competent Misdemeanor Court will, at the request of the DI, replace the monetary fine with community service in freedom or imprisonment.

Although the Civic Initiative ‘I Don’t Want Heating Services’ is outraged by the Decision received by Tomislav Beg, Švegar says he is ‘satisfied that the Decision states that Beg detached in July last year, that is, before the new City Heating Plant d.o.o. was formed due to the bankruptcy of the Heating Plant d.o.o., with which Beg never signed a contractual relationship.’
For the upcoming legal battle, it is also good, adds Švegar, that the DI’s explanation states that in Tomislav Beg’s apartment ‘the disconnection from the heating system was carried out by an authorized person, the company Guštin d.o.o. from Ozalj,’ which performed ‘the dismantling of radiator pipes from the main heating lines and sealing of the pipeline, as well as the installation of foam insulation for the pipeline, so the pipes are closed and there are no disturbances to other heating users.’

The State Inspectorate also states that Tomislav Beg informed both the Heating Plant, which went bankrupt last summer, and the City Heating Plant, which took over the city central heating system after Beg detached.
According to Švegar’s data, at least thirty apartment owners in Karlovac have cut their radiators, a total of 110 have requested in writing from the City Heating Plant to detach from the heating system, for which they were unable to obtain 100% consent from the owners of apartments with the same common measure, and about 1,500 have signed a petition that apartment and business property owners should achieve the right to detach from the heating system without prior consent from other apartment owners.
The coordinator of the action, Domagoj Švegar, also emphasizes that last month they sent an open letter to the Minister of Justice Orsat Miljenić, but no response has been received from him to date.