Overview

• Berliner Wasserbetriebe alerted the Friedrichshain‑Kreuzberg district to a threatened cutoff for the entire Hafenplatz complex over unpaid charges reported at about €800,000.
• The district says it has assumed the outstanding costs and will take over ongoing payments from November to keep water flowing for nearly 1,000 homes and a refugee shelter housing about 600 people.
• Officials are examining ways for tenants to route water payments directly to the utility and are preparing legal steps to recover the advanced funds from the owner.
• Neues Deutschland reports the district will proceed via Ersatzvornahme and that the utility plans to pursue the owner’s debt through the tax office.
• Authorities and tenant groups allege the owner failed to forward residents’ prepayments as part of a broader push to clear the site, while the company told Neues Deutschland it rejects claims of intentional eviction and declined financial details.