Marat Aizatullin: "About a third of the republic's utility networks need to be replaced"

The Government hour "On the implementation of programs in the field of housing and communal services and landscaping in Tatarstan" was held today in the State Council as part of the fifteenth meeting. The information on this issue was provided by the Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing and Communal Services of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Aizatullin.

Marat Aizatullin stressed that one of the main problems in the housing and communal services remains the unsatisfactory condition of engineering networks. This problem is relevant not only in the republic, but also throughout the country. In Tatarstan, the length of utility networks exceeds 27 thousand km. About a third of them, which is more than 9 thousand kilometers, needs to be replaced. These are more than 5,800 km of water supply networks, more than two thousand km of wastewater disposal networks and more than one and a half thousand km of heat supply networks. To solve the problem of network wear in 2023, the President of the country launched a federal program for the modernization of public infrastructure systems.

"In our republic, 67 events worth 4.5 billion rubles were held in ten districts in 2023-2024 under this program. About 128 km of networks have been replaced," said Marat Aizatullin. - This year, the federal program for the modernization of municipal infrastructure was included in the new national project "Infrastructure for Life". Financing in the amount of 4 billion 147 million rubles is provided for its implementation in the republic, 2 billion 181 million rubles of which are funds from the federal budget."

The Minister recalled that this year, thanks to the decision of the Rais of Tatarstan, a republican program was launched with funding of about 8.5 billion rubles, which includes 100 facilities. According to the republican program for the modernization of municipal infrastructure, 269 km of utility networks will be replaced. "Thus, within the framework of two programs, reconstruction and modernization of 144 engineering infrastructure facilities in all 45 municipalities is planned this year. The cost will amount to about 12.6 billion rubles. In total, it is planned to replace 404 km of engineering networks, 25 water towers, 15 sewage pumping stations, two biological treatment plants and 7 boiler houses," stressed Marat Aizatullin.

In addition to the aforementioned programs for the modernization of communal infrastructure, as the head of the relevant ministry said, for many years programs have been implemented in the republic, funded from the republic's budget, aimed at improving the quality of public services. These are programs for the restoration of lighting, for the repair of gas consumption networks with the replacement of boilers in budget institutions, for the reconstruction of gas distribution networks, domestic gas consumption networks with the installation of boiler houses, for the modernization of sewage treatment plants and major repairs of sewerage networks, to provide engineering infrastructure for land plots for large families. Taking into account the programs for the modernization of municipal infrastructure and investment programs of resource supply organizations, it is planned to overhaul, reconstruct and build more than 680 km of networks this year.

"This is about 2.5% of the total network length. – Marat Aizatullin emphasized. - According to the memorandum on the modernization of municipal infrastructure systems in Tatarstan, starting in 2030, we must ensure the annual replacement of at least 2.5% of the networks. At this rate, it will take at least 14 years to fix the under-repair. We understand that it is necessary to strive for a higher rate of network replacement at the level of 5% in order to reduce the number of worn-out networks."

According to Marat Aizatullin, one of the major programs implemented in the housing and communal services sector is the program of capital repairs of apartment buildings, implemented in Tatarstan since 2008. Over the period from 2008 to 2024, more than 12,000 apartment buildings were renovated, the total area of renovated housing was more than 53 million square meters, living conditions for more than 2 million residents were improved, and the total amount of program financing over 17 years reached 97 billion 100 million rubles. "It is important to note that the share of owners' funds is 46.5%, which is more than 45 billion rubles, which demonstrates their active participation in co-financing the renovation of their homes," the minister said.

This year, major repairs in the republic covered 911 apartment buildings. Thanks to additional funds in the amount of 3 billion rubles allocated by the decision of the Rais of the Republic, it was possible not only to increase the capital repair program by 219 houses, but also to implement an integrated approach. As Marat Aizatullin emphasized, the fact that these funds were used to solve the most pressing problems gives special importance to additional financing. The key result was the large-scale replacement of 675 elevators that had served their time. "These are not just numbers, but a real increase in safety and comfort for hundreds of thousands of residents of the republic," said the head of the ministry. - It is important to emphasize that we are facing a strategic task set by the Government - to completely upgrade the elevators with an expired service life by 2030, which is 1,280 elevators. The replacement of 675 elevators has exceeded the figures of previous years by 2-3 times, which creates a reliable basis for the successful achievement of the intended goal on time."

Traditionally, in the republic, as Marat Aizatullin emphasized, a large amount of work is carried out on the improvement of public spaces within the framework of the federal project and the republican program. This year, work has been completed on 63 facilities worth almost 2 billion rubles. As part of the "Our Yard" program initiated by the Rais of Tatarstan, in 2025, another 677 yards were completed with a funding limit of 10 billion rubles. "Work on yard improvement will continue in 2026, the funding limit for the program remains the same - 10 billion rubles, the list of yards that will be included in the program is currently being formed. Approximately 570 facilities will be included in it," said the Minister of Construction, Architecture and Housing and Communal Services of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Summing up his speech, Chairman of the State Council Farid Mukhametshin noted that the issue of the state of engineering communications in the republic is urgent and vital. "At meetings with voters, we often hear that they are worried about the state of engineering networks," said Farid Mukhametshin. - The issue was not accidentally included in the agenda of the meeting. We kindly ask the Ministry of Construction, Architecture and Housing to keep the issue under strict control. This includes our parliamentary control activities."