Agenda: preparing the housing and utilities infrastructure and electric power facilities for the 2025-2026 autumn and winter period.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks
Report by Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin
Report by Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev
Government meeting
Government meeting
Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin at the government meeting
Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev at the government meeting
Government meeting
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.
Today we will hold a traditional discussion on the preparations of electric power facilities and housing and utilities infrastructure for the winter period. The provision of electricity, heating and hot water to our people depends on the reliable operation of all engineering systems.
The replacement of old heating, water supply and sewage systems has continued throughout the year across the country. A great deal of work has been completed to ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply.
The relevant companies have been supplied with coal, fuel oil and diesel fuel in the amounts exceeding the approved standards. We are closely monitoring this.
Steady work has been organised in these spheres in the new Russian entities and border regions. It will continue until all the planned measures are implemented, primarily regarding housing and utilities infrastructure and social facilities.
Colleagues, sustainable heat and electricity supply is extremely important for our cities and towns, and for our people during the winter period. We must work as smoothly and efficiently as possible to prevent accidents and failures during the cold season.
As our head of state has pointed out, all decisions in this sphere must be implemented without fail.
Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin and [Minister of Energy] Sergei Tsivilev provide detailed reports on these preparations at the electric power and housing and utilities facilities.
The next item on the current agenda is fighting forest wildfires.
This year, the wildfires raged in an area totaling 4 million hectares. A number of regions of the Russian Federation introduced a state of emergency. We discussed this matter in detail at yesterday’s meeting with the head of a relevant agency.
Our President noted that coordination was a thing of greatest importance. This implies the need for the timely employment of forces and assets necessary for eliminating the aftermath of fires.
The required machinery and equipment were used to extinguish the fire. Additional units were redeployed, with the effort involving over 2,000 people. Aircraft were also used in an active manner, given that they are indispensable in hard-of-access localities and particularly remote areas.
All these measures called for additional allocations, including from regional budgets. Therefore, we have decided to issue subventions to the Federal Forestry Agency to be distributed among 11 regions. I am referring to the Republic of Buryatia, the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, the Republic of Tyva, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, the Trans-Baikal Territory, the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Arkhangelsk Region, the Irkutsk Region, the Rostov Region, and the Tomsk Region.
We will allocate about 3 billion roubles to them as a compensation for the expenses they have sustained.
The Government will continue to assist regions so that they could promptly respond to the emergence of seats of fire and bar threats to life and health of our citizens.
Today, we will also consider a draft law that provides full government funding for animation films for children and the youth.
This initiative has been drafted on instructions from our President. He stressed that people should have an opportunity to enjoy culture from childhood.
This government support is already extended to feature films for children and teens. The proposed adjustments also expand opportunities of getting state assistance for the production of animation films with 100-percent financing of the estimated production and distribution cost.
Funds from the federal budget will be only available to films that meet the national priorities. Images and personages from high-quality animation films play an important role in bringing up entire generations, suggest decisions in everyday situations, and convey a broad vision of our rich cultural heritage. Therefore, the national film industry will continue to get support.
We hope that this draft law will reach our lawmakers shortly for the new arrangement to come into force as early as next year.
Let us go over to the agenda.
Minister of Construction and Amenities Irek Faizullin will report on the first issue. Please, you have the floor.
Irek Faizullin: Mr Mishustin, colleagues.
Regions and housing and utilities organisations have undertaken extensive preparations for the heating season. This included inspecting and repairing equipment and networks, pressure-testing heating systems, updating emergency response protocols, building up reserve fuel supplies, and ensuring emergency crews are fully staffed.
As of now, the heating season has started in all regions of the Russian Federation. This year’s winter preparations were carried out under new, more stringent regulations. Notably, responsibility for readiness for the winter period has been legally established for the first time.
Representatives of the Federal Service for the Supervision of Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management (Rostekhnadzor) and the State Housing Inspectorate (Goszhilnadzor) were required to take part in facility inspections. Preventive visits were introduced within the framework of energy supervision, and the rules for assessing readiness were revised. Beginning in November of this year, penalties have also been imposed for failing to address violations identified in readiness reports.
Special emphasis was placed on training personnel from utility and management companies, as well as local authorities.
Rostekhnadzor, in cooperation with the Ministry of Construction, has launched a free training programme designed to enhance the qualifications of responsible specialists.
In addition, emergency services carried out training exercises in every municipality to refine communication plans and identify vulnerabilities.
Demonstration drills held in Murmansk provided an opportunity to rehearse responses to severe weather and simultaneous failures in power and heating networks.
As of today, readiness levels stand at 99.8 percent for residential buildings, 99.9 percent for social facilities, and 99.8 percent for public utility infrastructure.
The remaining work does not affect the safe operation of the heating season.
As you noted, Mr Mushustin, fuel reserves have been fully replenished.
In total, regions have allocated more than 347 billion roubles from their own budgets to prepare for the heating season. The Government is also continuing to provide targeted support. This year, five regions received 6 billion roubles in assistance, and four additional applications are currently under review.
I would like to highlight the results of the municipal readiness assessment separately.
Of the 3,042 municipalities inspected, 2,890, or 95 percent, received readiness certificates. This represents a 6 percent increase compared to last year’s level.
We believe this improvement reflects the tightened requirements and the ongoing modernisation work carried out under the Modernisation of Public Utilities Infrastructure federal project, which is being implemented at the President’s instruction.
By 2030, this project will enable the construction of 2,000 water supply facilities, the modernisation of over 50,000 km of networks, and improved service quality for 20 million people across the country.
This year alone, through the alignment of all support mechanisms, plans include replacing 9,000 km of networks and constructing or repairing more than 2,500 facilities.
For example, 48,000 linear metres of networks have been upgraded across various sites in the Republic of Kalmykia this year, and wastewater treatment facilities in Elista have been repaired. In the Tyumen Region, 50,000 linear metres of networks have been upgraded, and 47,000 metres – in the Komi Republic.
Since the start of the heating season, 2,700 emergency situations have been recorded, which is 17 percent fewer than last year.
In order to ensure a nationwide emergency response capability, 25,000 emergency teams have been formed, comprising more than 112,000 personnel and equipped with 45,000 units of machinery.
In line with the President’s instructions, we are closely monitoring the heating season in the border regions.
Thanks to your support, Mr Mishustin, funding has been allocated for the purchase of modular boiler houses and diesel generators.
With the assistance of sponsor regions, 201 emergency response teams, comprising 1,000 specialists and 419 units of equipment, have been established in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, and in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
Overall readiness stands at 95 percent. The work will continue.
The Ministry of Construction, together with the Ministry of Energy, Rosgidromet, Rostekhnadzor, regional government agencies, and housing supervision authorities, holds weekly coordination meetings. These include reports on the forecast for the upcoming week and analyses of the effectiveness of emergency response operations.
Monitoring of the heating season is ongoing.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Faizullin. I give the floor to Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev.
Sergei Tsivilev: Mr Mishustin, colleagues.
The main works to prepare for the autumn and winter period are over and the heating season is proceeding normally.
Preparations for winter were carried out in a complicated operational and financial situation while energy consumption and equipment loads were growing in some regions.
In our estimates, the growth will continue during this year’s heating season and will make up four percent for the country in general, compared to the same period last year.
The preparation of energy companies and the housing and utilities sector for the heating season has been considered in detail at the all-Russia conference and some Government commission meetings in federal districts. We have discussed the possible risks for the districts’ energy systems during maximum winter loads jointly with the regional authorities and energy companies. We have updated the comprehensive risks map for each region, including a list of urgent and long-term measures.
On 7 November, we approved the final results of evaluating the readiness of electric power facilities.
Major backbone companies have reaffirmed their readiness for the heating season and received the relevant certificates.
Twelve out of 374 companies failed to receive such certificates and continue their preparations and remedying the drawbacks. A plan of compensatory measures aimed at minimising the risk of emergency situations has been compiled for them. The implementation of the plan is monitored by the federal and regional headquarters.
Over 23,000 emergency response and recovery teams have been trained to remedy the consequences of accidents.
The generating companies have supplied and accumulated stock reserves of energy resources in time. All the energy facilities have been provided with the required reserves of fuel.
The planned delivery of energy resources as part of the Northern Supply Haul has been completed. The underground gas storage facilities have been filled to the target levels.
Our primary operational focus for the upcoming heating season will be on several key regions: the Far East, southeastern Siberia, the southern territories, Dagestan, the reunified and border regions, as well as the isolated power grid of the Kaliningrad Region.
A tailored set of risk mitigation measures has been approved for each of these areas. Furthermore, an additional emergency reserve has been established. I would like to express our gratitude to you, Mr Mishustin, and the Government of the Russian Federation for procuring the additional reserve of electric generators.
A 24/7 monitoring system for the power supply is now fully operational.
We are actively implementing upgrades to improve the reliability of generating equipment at thermal power plants in the Far East and southern Russia, alongside programmes to enhance the resilience of the distribution grids in the eight priority regions.
The heating season in the reunified and border territories is under our direct supervision. We are executing a comprehensive protective strategy there, and the restoration of damaged power facilities is tracked on a daily basis. To facilitate prompt repairs, we have assembled the necessary workforce and resources, and increased our stockpiles of essential equipment and materials.
In conclusion, I would like to state that the concerted efforts of our energy companies will ensure the uninterrupted operation of all generating and grid equipment, and of our personnel, throughout the winter period. The stable operation of the entire power system and the reliable supply of electricity to consumers remain under the constant supervision of the Ministry of Energy.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Tsivilev.
Finally, colleagues, as is our tradition, I ask that you maintain personal oversight of all heating season matters – in collaboration with the regional leaders – and report as necessary.
