The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East has hosted a meeting to prepare Far Eastern regions for the 2013-2014 heating season.On the instructions of Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Plenipotentiary Presidential Envoy in the Far Eastern Federal District Viktor Ishayev, experts from a dedicated Ministry department are monitoring preparations by the Far Eastern energy and housing and utility facilities for the heating season.
At the meeting it was noted that there were plans to spend over 2.3 billion roubles on repairing and replacing dilapidated energy networks in the Far East. To date, 22.7% of the facilities have been prepared. Over 63.8 billion roubles of funding from budgets at all levels have already been allocated for preparing the energy and housing and utilities facilities, and 22.6% of the work has been completed. A total of 18.1% of Defence Ministry facilities have been prepared.
However, the pace of the work to replace rundown regional networks does not meet the standards recommended by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East. One of the reasons for this are the growing debts of companies in the housing and municipal utilities sector. In 2013, at over 32.3 billion roubles, the debts of the population increased by 11% compared to the same period in the previous year. Companies in the utilities sector have posted increased debts (accounts payable) in all regions of the Far Eastern Federal District, apart from the Sakhalin Region.
In addition, the regions are not doing enough to respond to complaints. Lawsuits filed, totalling 1.9 billion roubles, account for only 10.4% of the total debt. The leaders of Russian regions in the Far Eastern Federal District have been advised to file additional lawsuits.
In turn, the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East will continue to monitor the readiness of regions for the heating season and conduct on-site inspections.
Attending the meeting were representatives of the staff of the Plenipotentiary Presidential Envoy in the Far Eastern Federal District, regional executive agencies in the Far Eastern Federal District, the Far Eastern Regional Centre of the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief, the Directorate of the Prosecutor General’s Office in the Far Eastern Federal District, energy companies and companies servicing military towns of the Far Eastern Military District .
Source: Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East
