I. Metshin: “Worn-out utilities are our pain points”

In Kazan, the wear of water supply networks is 74%. To address this issue, funds will be allocated this year under federal and republican programs for the utilities repair. Iskander Giniyatullin, deputy head of the Executive Committee, announced this at the 9th session of the Kazan City Duma.

The situation in the utilities sector is tense: the wear and tear of water supply and wastewater networks and facilities in the city is about 74%, and heating networks is 52%.

According to Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin, every second kilometer of the heating network has already exceeded the safe usage capacity, having been in operation for more than 25 years.

“There are systemic pain points and we continue to work on eliminating them. The main ones are worn-out utilities. Half of the heating mains have exceeded their service life, having been in operation for more than 25 years. The situation with water supply and wastewater disposal is even more challenging: the wear reaches over 70%,”- noted the Mayor of Kazan.

Iskander Giniyatullin noted that specialized federal programs allowed to slowing down the growth of wear and tear – it remains at the level of 2023, but this is not enough. He also appealed to the deputies and the Minister of Construction, Architecture, Housing and Utilities of Tatarstan with a request to support the applications of Kazan utility companies to participate in budget programs. In addition, it is important to start implementing the measures in a timely manner: this year, due to the late approval of the program, the tenders were announced only in June. In the future, it is proposed to hold them in April.

The problem of infrastructure wear concerns also the city’s growth prospects. Marat Aizatullin, Minister of Construction, Architecture, Housing and Utilities of Tatarstan, confirmed that utility constraints are becoming a barrier to the development of some territories.

This year, 473 modernization projects are being implemented in Kazan, with a total cost of about 66 billion rubles. As many as 3,900 facilities will be repaired with funding exceeding 173 billion rubles in 2026. The capacity shortage has already caused accidents on Adel Kutuya and Rodina streets. The development of these zones is impossible without constructing the first start-up facilities of heat carrier No. 5.

Almost 40 billion rubles have already been allocated to create the necessary infrastructure at new sites of the Kazan agglomeration. Main water supply networks worth about 1.86 billion rubles and main sewage systems worth 3.47 billion rubles are being built on the territory of military town- 22 and the Ekorayon residential area in the Kirovsky city district. The increased capacity will make it possible to build about 2 million square meters of housing here in the future.

The need for further investments is particularly demanded for the wastewater disposal system. In Kazan, the reconstruction of wastewater treatment facilities and sewage systems, worth 7.5 billion rubles, has already been completed under the federal project “Revitalization of the Volga.” The growth of the city leads to an increased load on the system: by 2030, the volume of transported wastewater may grow from 12,500 to 20,000 cubic meters per hour. To address this problem, documentation has been developed for the construction of new pressure collectors with a total length of more than 27 km.

Summing up the discussion, the Mayor noted that public utility infrastructure is the foundation of citizens’ daily lives, and its condition directly affects the comfort and safety of residents.

“Today, the utility infrastructure is not just about pipes and wires; it is the foundation of the daily life of our Kazan residents. Therefore, modernizing the housing and utilities sector is not for a record in a report; it is an investment in the quality of daily life for our Kazan residents, in social harmony, and in trust in the authorities,”- the Mayor concluded.