‘Over half of the plan has been delivered’: Kazan is half way through in network modernisation by BRICS Summit
This year, 35.5 km of utility networks are built and repaired in Kazan, and more than half of the works has already been completed. Utility services want to update the networks in time for the BRICS Summit in October. Now construction and repairs are in full swing, so Kazan residents are asked not to perceive the planned summer water outages “as a whim for utility companies,” all contractors are faced with the task of “meeting it in the shortest possible time,” city authorities assure Kazan people.
“Utility networks are awaiting repairs”
In Kazan, 14 sections of water supply, sewerage and heat supply networks in the road system are being replaced for a total amount of 602 million rubles in preparation for the BRICS Summit. The progress of the work was reported on one of the Business Monday meetings in the city administration in July. According to the regional programme, in the Tatarstan capital, they plan to build 6 km of utility networks for nine facilities, lay 5.3 km of heating networks for six facilities and 18.6 km of water supply networks for 19 facilities. “The utility networks that were laid many years ago increase their depreciation percentage every year and are awaiting repair,” noted the Executive Committee’s leadership.
The city authorities emphasise that Kazan is not only growing but also aging, and this is clearly reflected in the housing and communal services sector. In the capital, the wear and tear of engineering communications is high — about 70%; accidents in the networks occur every now and then. The need for modernisation of municipal infrastructure in the republic as a whole is estimated at about 200 billion rubles, and about 127 billion is needed to put the water supply and sewerage networks in order in Kazan alone.
Some of the facilities are being updated as part of a federal programme for modernising public utility infrastructure, which started two years ago, but the funds are not enough. Therefore, both the country's President Vladimir Putin and the republic's administration are talking about the need to invest in public utilities. There is large-scale long-term work ahead: “This is a serious programme for a decade,” Director of Vodokanal water supply enterprise Rustam Abdulkhakov told Realnoe Vremya back in the spring. “You have to announce it, find money and work.”
Kazan utility workers are now facing important tasks in modernising and restoring water supply, sewerage and heating networks. The work is carried out with money from federal and republican programmes as well as in preparation for international events. Thanks to this, it is possible to update many facilities in the city. Now the BRICS Summit is coming up in October, and builders are rushing to get the main engineering infrastructure in order.
The construction and repair works are accompanied by scheduled summer water outages –this is a traditional part of preparation for the heating season. Therefore, the city’s Executive Committee is asking Kazan residents to endure the inconveniences: “All contractors have the task of meeting the deadlines in the shortest possible time. We are sending information, explaining, controlling, but some residents consider technological shutdowns as a whim of utility companies.”
“Work is going according to schedule”
Realnoe Vremya was told how the modernisation of municipal infrastructure is going on in the enterprises that are involved in the implementation of the programmes:
“As part of repair activities for the BRICS Summit in 2024, the works are planned to replace heating networks with a total length of 1,994 line metres for a total amount of 231.27 million rubles, including VAT,” Tatenergo reported.
In addition, the company is building 6 km of networks in the city for nine facilities, including laying a kilometre of heat pipeline No. 5, which will connect the Kazan CHPP-1 and the Gorki boiler house. About 667.3 million rubles have been allocated for these purposes under a regional programme. This heating pipeline will supply heat to new buildings in the area of Daurskaya, Adel Kutuya, Gvardeyskaya and Rodina streets; 2.3 km of networks have already been laid.
Kazenergo will replace 5.3 km of heating networks for six facilities for 185 million rubles. Vodokanal will relay 18.6 km of water supply networks with diameters from 160 to 800 mm for 1.1 billion rubles. In total, the programme includes 19 facilities.
The city's municipal infrastructure is being updated not only in the regional programme but also as part of the investment and production programmes of enterprises. The city will repair networks for another 5.7 billion rubles (Tatenergo — 2.6 billion rubles, Kazenergo — 354 million rubles and Vodokanal — 2.7 billion rubles).
In preparation for the BRICS Summit in Kazan, 2.8 km of water supply networks, 1.6 km of heating networks and 1.2 km of sewerage networks are being updated. Two water supply facilities on Nursultan Nazarbayev Street and one sewerage facility on Vishnevsky Street has already been repaired. The work was completed on five sections of 2.5-km water supply networks, two sections of 0.5-km sewerage networks and four 1.6-km heating networks. “In the six months of 2024, over half of all of plans have been delivered. The work is going according to schedule,” the city’s Executive Committee noted.
Industry development is hampered by consumers’ debts
Large-scale and costly works to modernise the utility infrastructure is taking place in the context of consumers’ large accumulated debt of housing and communal services to supply organisations. As Tatarstan enterprises from the housing and communal services sector said, both the population and organisations have large debts.
The company’s specialists constantly work with all debtors and carry out activities both for pre-trial settlement and settlement in court.
Kazenergo reported that as of July 1 overdue receivables for problematic consumers amounted to 26.2 million rubles.
As the power engineers explained, the debt arose due to late payment of housing and communal services by the population. Residents pay bills two-six months late. The average debt periods to Kazenergo JSC is one-three months.
The debt accumulated by industrial consumers reached 7 million rubles.
“The work aimed at all problematic consumers is carried out to collect debt through legal proceedings. The main part of the payments comes from the bailiff service as part of the initiated enforcement proceedings,” the company told the newspaper.
According to Tatenergo, the overdue debt of thermal energy consumers amounts to 361.0 million rubles, of which 156.4 million is the debt of the population, including utility service providers.
The city authorities also recognise the problem. The quality of life depends on how regularly Kazan residents pay their bills, the Executive Committee warns. Since large debts affect the level of service of the housing fund and the maintenance of networks, in conditions of high wear and tear of utility infrastructure, they hinder the development of the entire industry.