‘We have the task of bringing the industry to self-sufficiency’

‘We have the task of bringing the industry to self-sufficiency’
Photo: Динар Фатыхов

4.5 trillion rubles will be allocated for the modernization of public utility infrastructure in Russia by 2030, of which 1.9 trillion rubles will come from extra-budgetary sources. It was discussed how to achieve these goals recently in Kazan. For two days, the capital of Tatarstan became the centre of discussions on issues of modernizing the country's public utility infrastructure: the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) is holding a Russian seminar in the city, which brought together more than 150 experts in tariff regulation, representatives of executive authorities and the scientific community from all over the country. Realnoe Vremya’s journalist attended the plenary session.

Tatarstan is a leader in attracting investment in the housing and utilities sector

The Russian seminar of Russia’s FAS opened with a plenary session on the implementation of the programme for modernizing the housing and utilities infrastructure until 2030 for 4.5 trillion rubles.

“Today, the engineering infrastructure facilities with their chronic underfunding remain one of the main pain points in the housing and utilities sector. And this problem is relevant for the entire country,” noted First Deputy Prime Minister of Tatarstan Rustam Nigmatullin, opening the event.

According to him, the seminar-meeting is the most important strategic platform for addressing issues of development and modernization of the housing and utilities infrastructure.

“The main goal of our work is to identify common approaches to the implementation of state policy in the housing and utilities sector and exchange best practices,” he emphasized.

Rustam Nigmatullin: “Today, one of the main pain points in the housing and utilities sector remains the engineering infrastructure facilities with their chronic underfunding”. Динар Фатыхов / realnoevremya.ru
The Deputy Prime Minister said that in Tatarstan, on the initiative of Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, a comprehensive approach to infrastructure modernization is being implemented. A long-term development strategy has also been developed, including digital transformation of the industry, network modernization and the introduction of energy-efficient technologies.
Deputy Head of Russia’s FAS Vitaly Korolyov highly praised the republic in his speech. He noted Tatarstan as a leading region in attracting investment in the utilities sector. This list also includes Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Chelyabinsk regions and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

4.5 trillion rubles of investment in housing and utilities


The total volume of investments actually attracted in the country in 2024 amounted to 346 billion rubles with a plan of 432 billion. In 2025, the plan is 548 billion rubles.

“For all of us, the priority is to continue scaling up investments in the housing and utilities sector as part of the implementation of the tasks set by the head of state,” the speaker emphasized.

Deputy Head of Russia’s FAS Vitaly Korolyov highly praised the republic in his speech. He noted Tatarstan as a region — a leader in attracting investments in the utilities sector. Динар Фатыхов / realnoevremya.ru
According to him, it is envisaged to increase the pace of implementation of the programme for the modernization of utilities infrastructure by the subjects of the Russian Federation and to allocate 4.5 trillion rubles for these purposes by 2030, including private investments and federal budget funds. Achieving these goals will be ensured by the synchronous development of the regulatory framework, formed, among other things, by Russia’s FAS.

“Even greater involvement of real potential investors in this area is required,” Korolyov noted.

To achieve the set goals, memorandums in the housing and utilities sector have been signed with the regions, providing for specific obligations of the subjects: approval and full implementation of investment programmes of regulated organizations, annual replacement of the standard volume of networks, reduction of the time of emergency restoration work and other measures.

Tariff regulation issues

“Our task is not just to direct 4.5 trillion rubles to the industry, but also to achieve very specific results: to improve the quality of public utilities for at least 20 million citizens,” emphasized Deputy Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation Alexey Yeresko.

The meeting brought together more than 150 experts in tariff regulation, representatives of executive authorities and the scientific community from all over the country. Динар Фатыхов / realnoevremya.ru


A key aspect of the public utilities infrastructure is the creation of an effective tariff regulation system, which should simultaneously protect the interests of consumers and stimulate the inflow of investments into the industry. Let us recall that 1.9 trillion rubles out of 4.5 trillion should come from extra-budgetary sources. This issue was also touched upon at the meeting.

Alexey Yeresko noted that tariff services are one of the main sources within the framework of the federal project for the modernization of public utilities infrastructure. At the same time, he added that regulators also have problems. “The indices that are established by FAS at the request of the subjects and then not selected are, in our opinion, a failure to comply with the president’s instructions,” he said.

Another important point is underfunding.
“n previous years, we had a fairly strict index for citizens without significant increases, which did not correspond to real inflation, which led to the industry being truly underfunded. And in order to reach the indicators that have been set for us, we need to somehow eliminate the admitted underfunding,” the deputy minister believes.
Self-sufficiency of the public utilities sector
Director the Territorial Development Fund Marat Petrin sees the solution in the public utilities sector reaching self-sufficiency.

“We are facing a serious task of bringing the industry to self-sufficiency. Federal support, which is provided — these volumes will always be insufficient. The industry must exist in isolation from federal support. Federal support should not be spread thinly across the entire country, but pointwise, where it is impossible to survive without it,” the speaker believes.

Marat Petrin: “Federal support should not be spread thinly across the entire country, but targeted, where it is impossible to survive without it”. Динар Фатыхов / realnoevremya.ru

It is possible to achieve such a result by fulfilling the points of the memorandum. Marat Petrin notes that many regions currently do not understand how to meet these indicators.
“We hear that there is a problem, so the Territorial Development Fund, together with a pilot group of regions, is developing a calculation model for each memorandum on how to fulfil it. I think that from July we will begin to replicate this model to a larger number of regions. For each region, we will have to determine what 4.5 trillion rubles is in terms of activities, conditionally build their understanding by year and find all sources of financing for these activities,” he said.

Chairman of the State Tariff Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan Alexander Grunichev after Petrin's speech noted that the indicators of the memorandum are unattainable without significant injections of budget funds. To which the Director of the Territorial Development Fund noted the possibility of adjusting the memoranda.

“Memoranda are not a dogma, they are a tool, conditionally a place where you can agree on what indicators the region takes on in terms of achieving big goals. We will see with each region whether we can achieve the goals only with extra-budgetary sources. If this is not possible, we are ready to correct these memoranda. They should reflect the goals that we can achieve,” emphasized Petrin.
Radifa Mingalyova

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