‘The water supply issue in Kazan and Tatarstan is very difficult because the whole system is very decrepit’
The water supply bill rose by 16% at once this August. The republican Tatarstan Statistics Service provides such data. Prices for hot and cold water supply, heating, gas and electricity supply changes too. As Chairman of the Centre for Public Control over Housing and Utility Services Mikhail Zastela says, all this jas to do with the wear of networks. It take much money to repair them, this is why such rises appear. Read about how much the prices grow and how utility bills will increase in Realnoe Vremya’s report.
“It takes much money to repair the networks”
According to the Tatarstan Statistics Service, water supply costs rose by 16% at once this August compared to the same period. The following services went up in price too:
- Hot water supply — 7,8%;
- Cold water supply — 9,9%;
- Heating — 7,3%;
- Gas supply — 8,5%;
- Electricity supply — 9,5%.
As Zastela explains, the wear of networks in Kazan and Tatarstan could become the cause of such perturbations. Authorities have to spend a lot of money on their repair, while pipeline replacement takes time. This is overlapped with a rise in prices, for instance, for metals.
“If the tariffs go only 10% up, this would be good”
Also, Zastela responded to the possible growth of utility tariffs by 10%. It should be reminded that the changes would come into force in July 2024. According to the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, considering the influence of the given factors on costs of heat and water supply organisations, the share of costs on electricity and gas supply in the utility bill, the indexation of citizens’ bills will be 9.8% in 2024, 5.7% in 2025, 4% in 2026.
“I think that if the tariffs go only 10% up, this would be good because if we have a look at real inflation, not according to the Tatarstan Statistics Service, many things have become at least 15% more expensive. Supply enterprises cannot provide services for a cheaper price because both metal and energy have become more expensive, again, higher salaries have to be paid. This is why 10% would be good,” concluded Mikhail Zastela.