Water data: 1.4 billion rubles will be allocated for modernization of water supply facilities

The Russian government will allocate additional funding to 10 regions for the construction and reconstruction of drinking water supply facilities by the end of 2024, the order to reallocate 1.4 billion rubles for these purposes was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, according to the government press service. Why exactly in these regions there are problems with water supply and whether the allocated funds will be enough to solve the problems - in the material "Izvestia".

Bring it to the point

The work on modernization of communal infrastructure, construction and reconstruction of engineering networks is carried out systematically within the framework of 12 existing federal projects and programs, reminded "Izvestia" in the press service of the Ministry of Construction. By the end of this year, 10 regions of the Russian Federation will be allocated additional funding for the construction and reconstruction of water supply facilities within the framework of the "Clean Water" program.

"Additional funds are allocated, among other things, for the renewal of communal infrastructure by redistributing balances upon receipt of a corresponding application from a constituent entity of the Russian Federation. For example, on December 21, 2024, additional funding for the creation of road and utility infrastructure in new residential areas as part of the implementation of measures to stimulate housing development programs was sent to the Volgograd, Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk regions, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Chechen Republic," the ministry added.

Photo: Izvestia/Konstantin Kokoshkin

The regions that received the subsidy do not necessarily have poor indicators of water quality or drinking water supply systems, said Alexandra Avdonina, candidate of biological sciences, associate professor, senior researcher of IPEI of the Presidential Academy.

- Taking into account that this is additionally allocated funding, it was necessary to prepare the necessary documents rather quickly, and this is already related to the efficiency of management. For example, these are the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kaluga regions, which are among the first "twenty" regions in terms of governance efficiency (XI rating of governance efficiency in Russian regions in 2023, prepared by the Agency for Political and Economic Communications (APEC)), and in the Altai Republic there is a new governor with tremendous managerial experience," the expert told Izvestia. - The Chechen Republic, which has problems with water supply facilities, distribution network and, accordingly, the quality of water supplied to consumers, is trying to actively use the opportunities to improve the water situation, being among the five regions with the most efficient management by the end of 2023.

Photo: Izvestia/Andrei Ershtrem

According to her, these funds are certainly not enough to solve all the problems.

- But taking into account the financing within the framework of the federal project "Clean Water" (included in the national project "Housing and Urban Environment"), as well as money from regional programs, subsidies will allow to "bring" to mind the previously launched initiatives or open new ones, not provided for in the national project and programs of the region's needs, - she specified.

Change of plans

For 2024, in one or another volume, subsidies for construction and reconstruction (modernization) of drinking water supply facilities from the federal budget are provided for almost all regions, Vladislav Bukharsky, Associate Director for Sovereign and Regional Ratings at Expert RA, reminded Izvestia.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Lantyukhov

Therefore, the direction of subsidies of this nature is not in itself a sign of individual serious problems with water supply - it is part of the federal project "Clean Water" and the state program "Provision of affordable and comfortable housing and public utilities to citizens of the Russian Federation", which are aimed at improving the quality of life in the regions, he confirmed.

- The regions, in their turn, form their own regional programs on these topics, where they include co-financing from the federal budget. For example, the Kaluga Region has approved a regional program to improve the quality of water supply for 2019-2024, or the Perm Territory has a program to improve the quality of water supply with two stages of implementation (2019-2024 and 2025)," he stressed.

Within the framework of the implementation of such programs, individual refinements in funding requirements may occur, including due to changes in the cost of performing works and activities. Last December, subsidies in this direction were also additionally distributed to eight regions (Dagestan, Trans-Baikal Territory, Volgograd, Irkutsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Tomsk and Tula regions), Vladislav Bukharsky noted.

"Izvestia" sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Construction, but at the time of publication no response had been received.

Access to water

The government earlier noted that federal funding will allow to upgrade water supply systems and stimulate the implementation of the federal project "Clean Water". Its main goal is to provide drinking water from centralized water supply systems to more than 88.8% of Russia's residents.

In addition, the Russian government will allocate more than 1.8 billion rubles to five regions by the end of the year for the creation of related infrastructure for the development of tourist clusters, the corresponding order was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. These are Adygea, Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Orenburg, Kaliningrad and Tver regions. Thanks to the adopted decision on their territories will be realized the activities planned within the framework of the national project "Tourism and Hospitality Industry". In particular, construction of water supply and water disposal facilities will be continued.

Photo: Izvestia/Mitriy Korotayev

At the same time, at the end of December, gross violations were revealed in the Saratov region. Investigators opened a case on the fact of accepting works of inadequate quality. This led to more than ten accidents at water supply facilities.

According to the IC version, the FGBU TsZHKU concluded a "multi-million dollar contract" for the repair of cold water supply networks of a military camp in the Saratov region with LLC "StroyIdeal". A year later, work of inadequate quality was accepted, "which resulted in more than ten accidents at water supply facilities". Property damage to the state was estimated at more than 27 million rubles.