Kiev/Moscow  - A Ukrainian power company used a photograph of a German World War II soldier in an attempt to convince customers to pay their utility bills, according to Friday news reports.

Posters in an advertising campaign running in the east Ukrainian city Donetsk depict a dejected German Wehrmacht soldier in winter clothing, with the words: "They froze because of their stupidity and greed... and you?"

The local power company Donetskgorteploset was to use the poster to convince Donetsk residents late on their heating and water bills to pay up or else, according to the reports.

Donetskgorteploset in previous campaigns to extract payment from deadbeat customers reportedly also used photographs of the German dictator Adolf Hitler, and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Non-payment of utility bills is widespread in Ukraine, because of Soviet traditions of free heating and water, and an almost total lack of metering equipment in individual homes.

Utility companies face difficulty in cutting off customers not paying their bills, as city water and heating systems lack the technical means to switch off a single family, without cutting off supplies to an entire apartment building or even an entire city block.(dpa)