Government meeting

Agenda: A review of the past heating season and preparations by the utilities and energy sectors for the upcoming autumn-winter period; the execution of the 2025 federal budget and the implementation of state programmes; the state of competition in the Russian economy.

Mikhail Mishustin's opening remarks

Report by Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities Irek Faizullin on the results of the past heating season and preparations by the housing and utilities sector for the upcoming autumn-winter period

Report by Minister of Energy Sergei Tsivilev on the results of the past heating season and preparations by energy companies for the upcoming autumn-winter period

Excerpts from the transcript:

Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today, we will begin by reviewing the results of the past heating season. We will assess the performance of the housing and utilities sector and the energy industry during this period and, of course, identify the key tasks that must be completed before the next heating season begins.

This is an issue of critical importance that affects every citizen. The comfort in residential buildings, including the reliable provision of heating and hot water, depends directly on the effective operation of these sectors.

Extensive preparatory work was carried out ahead of the past season. This included the construction and modernisation of specialised infrastructure facilities, more than 1,500 of which were completed last year under the national project Infrastructure for Life. As a result of these efforts, and a range of additional measures, the number of accidents and service disruptions declined significantly, despite the particularly cold and snowy winter.

Additional support was provided to a number of Russian regions, totalling more than 7 billion roubles. These funds were allocated for the purchase of modular boiler houses, fuel oil, and other essential technical equipment.

Systematic efforts were also carried out in Russia's new regions. Reconstruction and major repair projects were completed, the necessary fuel reserves were secured, and unified utility service providers were established.

I would now like to invite the Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities, Mr Faizullin, and the Minister of Energy, Mr Tsivilev, to provide more detailed reports on these efforts.

Let us now turn to another item on the agenda: the execution of the federal budget in the previous year and the implementation of the corresponding state programmes. Federal budget revenues ultimately exceeded 37 trillion roubles, driven largely by strong non-oil-and-gas revenues, which consistently account for more than three-quarters of total budget income. These revenues are generated not only by industry, but also by the services sector, agriculture, software development, education, healthcare, and many other areas of the economy unrelated to oil and gas production.

These and other indicators remained within the planned targets and are consistent with the objectives set by the President for 2025 at the meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects.

These objectives include addressing demographic challenges, developing a supply-side economy, strengthening Russia's technological sovereignty, enhancing the global competitiveness of domestic goods, services, and technologies, and expanding the country's payment, insurance, and logistics infrastructure.

These priorities formed the foundation of the state programmes. On average, implementation targets were achieved at nearly 100 percent. Particularly strong results were recorded in programmes focused on providing affordable and comfortable housing, promoting the integrated development of rural areas, advancing education, and delivering on other forms of social support. These programmes remain among the Government's highest priorities.

The next item on the agenda concerns the state of competition in the country over the past year.

The president has emphasised the importance of actively developing the national economy and increasing the production of critically important goods and services. The quality of life of our citizens and the wellbeing of Russian families depends directly on achieving these objectives.

Purposeful and systematic efforts are underway to address these challenges. These include not only expanding the availability of goods and services for both people and businesses, but also overseeing the activities of natural monopolies to prevent cartel agreements and supporting responsible and law-abiding entrepreneurs.

Special attention is being paid to ensuring transparency in food pricing. In order to prevent unjustified price increases and identify unnecessary intermediary links, the entire supply chain, from producers and suppliers to retail outlets where products are ultimately sold, is carefully monitored.

The pricing of vital and essential medicines are also under close scrutiny. The quality of medical care and the health of millions of people depend on the accessibility of these medicines in hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. Measures implemented last year resulted in price reductions for more than 700 medicines on this list. This work must continue.

Fair competition is an important factor in strengthening the domestic economy, encouraging entrepreneurial initiative, and making goods and services more affordable and accessible to the public.

Let us get down to the agenda.

I would like to ask Irek Faizullin to report on the first issue: the results of the past heating season.

You have the floor, Mr Faizullin.

: Mr Mishustin, colleagues,

The autumn-winter period remains one of the principal indicators of the reliability of the nation's critical infrastructure systems. The heating season has been concluded in 76 regions. In thirteen regions of Siberia and the Far East, it continues owing to climatic conditions.

As part of preparations for winter, the regions and housing and utilities organisations, agencies, and municipal entities have undertaken substantial work - a comprehensive set of regulatory procedures in apartment buildings, at all social facilities, and at utility infrastructure sites. Adequate fuel reserves have been accumulated. Furthermore, emergency response drills have been conducted.

For the first time, representatives of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Management and regional housing inspectorates participated in the readiness verification commissions. The Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Management alone inspected more than 7,000 heat supply organisations and 16,000 boiler houses.

The new model of interdepartmental control has proved effective: the level of certification has increased and reached ninety-five percent nationwide.

During the heating period, the number of incidents at heat supply facilities decreased by 14 percent, and the average repair time was four hours. The rapid restoration of utility supplies was ensured by 25,000 emergency teams with a total strength of 112,000 people.

Major incidents were primarily associated with adverse weather conditions and increased strain on utilities infrastructure. In certain instances, the prolonged duration of incidents was attributable to the failure of personnel to comply with established instructions and regulations. Thus, in the city of Bodaybo, the freezing of distribution and in-building networks was allowed to occur, and the remediation took more than three weeks.

To prevent such situations and to ensure the stable operation of the housing and utilities sector throughout the entire autumn-winter period, the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia, together with the Ministry of Energy, the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Management, and the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, coordinated regional efforts on a weekly basis. Nationwide coordination centres were convened, where the current operational situation was reviewed, and measures to resolve incidents in each region were analysed in detail, taking into account weather conditions. This work concerning the reunified regions was conducted on a daily basis.

Additionally, to improve the qualifications of personnel, a training programme on emergency response has been launched this year at Moscow State University of Civil Engineering. I would emphasise that the work on winter preparedness in the border regions is subject to special oversight.

Thank you, Mr Mishustin, for the decision to procure modular boiler units. This enabled the timely restoration of heat supply to consumers. At your instruction, as of this year, such modular boiler units, as well as emergency power supplies, have been included in the permanent federal material and technical reserve for the rapid response to emergencies across the country.

Winter preparedness is not a seasonal task; it is a comprehensive effort carried out on the instruction of the President within the framework of the Infrastructure for Life national project. Targeted support to the regions to ensure the smooth passage of the heating season is provided by the Government annually. Last year alone, more than 8 billion roubles were allocated for these purposes. As part of the implementation of the Modernisation of Utilities Infrastructure federal project, the regions were allocated 40 billion roubles from the federal budget, which enabled improvements in the reliability of utility supplies for 8 million of our citizens.

Preparations for the new heating period have already commenced. The regions have drawn up plans for municipal entities. The key task now is to ensure their timely and high-quality implementation. The Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of Russia, together with the relevant agencies, will continue to monitor this work through the coordination centre.

Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Faizullin.

Mr Tsivilev, you have the floor.

: Prime Minister Mishustin, colleagues.

As far as the Energy Ministry is concerned, the heating season was duly handled. During the autumn and winter season, no major accidents occurred in the power supply system; any power outages were dealt with immediately to restore supply to energy consumers.

The heating season was marked by operational challenges and higher power consumption - almost one percent higher than during the previous season.

A new historic high was recorded in January. The power consumption exceeded the previous record by two percent.

Prompt restoration of energy facilities damaged by external impacts was under daily monitoring.

We specifically focused on the Russian Far East, the southeastern part of Siberia, the southern regions, some regions in the North Caucasus, the new and border regions, as well as the isolated energy grid of the Kaliningrad Region.

Over the past autumn and winter season, some 38 cases of mass power outage occurred due to unfavourable weather conditions, which is 35 percent lower than during the previous autumn and winter season. The strategic territorial grid operators and regional control centres managed prompt incident response. More than 23,000 emergency crews ensured general emergency readiness.

No disruptions of power plant operation due to fuel shortages occurred.

As we are preparing for the new heating season, we are taking measures to prevent any accidents during spring and summer - the seasons for which higher energy consumption and high workload on the energy system are typical, especially in the south of Russia. This summer, we expect a seven percent growth in energy consumption as opposed to the previous year. The Energy Ministry is keeping the action plan under special control.

We have started preparations for the 2026-2027 heating season.

Our main areas of focus include the repair and maintenance of power grid and power generation facilities, the implementation of investment programmes, stocking up fuels, replenishing emergency stocks, staff training, and accident prevention training.

The total worth of maintenance and investment programmes across Russia this year will amount to 2.5 trillion roubles.

We are taking an area-based approach to building reinforced emergency stocks for energy companies, considering the higher intensity of external impact incidents. We are focused on mainline grids, main substations, and thermal power plants.

Power generating companies have organised scheduled stockpiling of fuels, including deliveries to northern regions.

As per the President's instructions, we will continue implementing programmes to increase the reliability of the power grid infrastructure in the Russian regions. Our priorities include providing assistance with energy supplies to the newly incorporated regions of Russia. We are going to allocate over 18 billion roubles for these purposes this year.

The Energy Ministry's current monitoring shows that the backbone companies are up to the major readiness indicators. We will summarise the results by issuing readiness certificates in early November.

Mr Mishustin, I want to emphasise that energy workers are continuously taking action to ensure stable and reliable operation of fuel and energy facilities. All measures will be taken to guarantee energy supply and high quality of service during the next autumn and winter season.

Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Tsivilev.

Colleagues, we should continue doing everything required for the uninterrupted operation of the housing and utilities sector and energy facilities. We must ensure a reliable supply of heating, hot water, and electricity to our citizens.

Therefore, it is important to start preparing for the next season, by thoroughly inspecting the condition of our energy infrastructure, auditing demands for resources and modernisation. It is necessary to purchase the necessary equipment and conduct respective tenders. All works must be organised promptly. Of course, it is your duty to keep the preparations under personal control.