The collapse of the housing and communal services system covered half of Russia’s regions. Communal accidents, which left hundreds of thousands of Russians without heat, water, electricity and gas, affected at least 43 subjects, writes “The Moscow Times”.
It is reported that the accident left 14,000 people without heat in 237 houses in Novosibirsk, and 10,000 in 282 houses in Lipetsk. Major accidents were also reported in Saratov, where heating was cut off in more than 650 houses and 100 social facilities, including schools and hospitals. In addition, tens of thousands of people were left without heat in Volgograd, and 6,000 people faced the same problem in Nakhidka.
Despite critical deterioration and several accidents, the Russian authorities are planning a radical reduction in spending on housing and communal infrastructure. According to the budget for 2024-2026, funding of housing and communal services from the federal budget will be more than halved.
From 2025, according to the law on the budget, a sharp sequestration of expenditures on housing and communal services will begin: they will be cut by 43%, to 506 billion rubles. And in 2026 – by another 25%, up to 381 billion rubles. Thus, in three years, the housing and communal services budget, financed by the federal budget, will be reduced by 2.3 times, to a minimum over 6 years.
The wear and tear of communal infrastructure networks in Russia, including heat and water supply, as well as sewage, exceeded 70% by mid-2022, noted Serhii Pakhomov, head of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services. Reduction of funding for infrastructure modernization from the federal budget promises the Russian Federation new man-made disasters, economist Ihor Lipsits is convinced.
It is worth adding that even nature contributes to the struggle of Ukrainians against the aggressor country. Directly along the borderline on the territory of the Russian Federation, the cold is twice as strong.
By the way, in 2023, the average daily loss of Russian personnel, killed and wounded, increased to almost 300 per day, which is more than in 2022. British analysts predict that if the current rate of losses is maintained during 2024, then by 2025 Russia’s losses in killed and wounded will reach more than 500,000.
Denys Popov
IN Korr
