At an open meeting of the regional executive committee, the progress of the implementation of the State Program "Comfortable Housing and a Favorable Environment" in the Vitebsk region was reviewed.
As emphasized by the Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee, Nikolai Sherstnev, communal and household services affect everyone, influencing social stability and the perception of the entire state system's performance. Therefore, they require special attention. The quality of housing and utility services and the service sector can be judged by calls to "hotlines" and written appeals to authorities, which contain more complaints than commendations. Although significant progress has been observed in this area recently.
The state program "Comfortable Housing and a Conducive Environment" includes several sections. These are the quality and accessibility of services, modernization and efficiency improvement of heat supply, housing stock repair, elevator system condition, provision of clean drinking water to consumers, as well as municipal waste management and the use of secondary material resources.
– An indicator of the accessibility of housing and utility services is their timely and full payment by consumers, which, in turn, is closely related to their cost, – noted the Head of the Housing and Communal Services Department of the Regional Executive Committee, Yuri Dyadyolo, in his speech.
What is being done in this regard in the Vitebsk region? For January-September of the current year, costs for providing housing and utility services to the population were reduced by 15.9%, resulting in savings of 22.5 million rubles. Overall, the region has achieved a reduction in the specific consumption of electricity for water lifting and supply, wastewater pumping and treatment, and heat energy generation.
Enterprise optimization, staff reduction, and the integration of inefficient housing and utility service providers into stable ones have occurred. For example, a decision has already been made to incorporate KUPP "Borovka" into the housing and utility enterprise "Lepel." The issue of reorganizing the Vetrino UPVP of the Polotsk district is being considered. The necessity of transferring some housing and utility service enterprises of the Vitebsk district to the regional center has arisen.
The saved funds are used for additional funding of measures under the "Comfortable Housing and Conducive Environment" program. In particular, three boiler houses using local types of fuel (in Podsvilye, Gluboksky district, Vysoki, Orsha district, and in Vitebsk) have been commissioned, heat networks have been replaced, and major repairs of water supply facilities and current repairs of the housing stock have been carried out.
By the end of 2016, the share of local fuel types in the housing and communal services system will reach 70%, and in the near future, it is planned to increase it to 75%. Three heat sources have been reconstructed with the installation of boilers using local fuel types. At the modernized boiler house in Vitebsk, condensation heat recovery units were used as an experiment, which increased efficiency and reduced fuel consumption. Now, in terms of performance, it is not inferior to gas-fired ones.
The conversion of five more facilities is planned. By the end of the year, work will be completed at the boiler house in the village of Andreevshchina, Orsha district, where two boilers operating on wood chips will be installed. In addition, modernization of small boiler houses is underway, which are switching to pellet fuel and do not require the constant presence of maintenance personnel. The installation of such equipment is taking place in Dubrovensky, Lepelsky, Lioznensky, Orshansky, Senno, Sharkovshchinsky, and Shumilinsky districts.
Yuri Dyadyolo emphasized that the actual cost of many services provided in the region is lower than the maximum permissible planned and calculated prices. However, the technical maintenance of the housing stock and heat supply is one of the most expensive in the republic.
Problematic issues include a high level of losses in water and thermal energy networks of own generation, the absence of direct contracts for heat supply between enterprises of the RUP "Belenergo" system and the population for the housing stock serviced by the housing and communal services of enterprises in the cities of the region.
During the meeting of the regional executive committee, the Minister of Housing and Communal Services of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Terekhov, noted that a customer service, which would protect the rights of citizens from housing and communal services enterprises, has not yet been established in the Vitebsk region. In Minsk, for example, such a structure has helped reduce the cost of some services.
The housing and communal services sector, as emphasized by the head of the region, faces the task of working efficiently, economically, and for the benefit of the people. So far, this has not been fully achieved. The most striking example of a negligent attitude towards work is the excessive illumination in nighttime Vitebsk, which many wealthy European cities cannot afford.
Tatyana Pasternak, "Vitebskiye vesti".