Frequent elevator failures in Polustrovo complex

In the residential complex on Korney Chukovsky Street in Polustrovo, elevators break down with frightening regularity. Residents, having despaired of getting the equipment to work properly through the management company, have started writing complaints directly to the governor and the president.

Anastasia, who lives on the 18th floor in building 7, block 2, shared a story of how she couldn«t get home with her one-and-a-half-year-old child while being five months pregnant. »I had to go outside in the frost of –15 °C (5°F). My husband was on duty at the Ministry of Emergency Situations and couldn«t come to help us up,» she said.

Residents record numerous breakdown cases on video. In one recording, the dispatcher of the service company, when asked about calling a repairman, responds: «What for? They»ll start it, and it will stop again.« Repairmen do come, but malfunctions quickly recur.

The building was commissioned in 2015. It has Wellmax brand elevators manufactured at the Serpukhov Elevator Plant. Their maintenance is handled by the company «Sankt-Peterburgskie Pod»yemnye Mekhanizmy« (St. Petersburg Lifting Mechanisms), and overall building management is done by »Garazhi i Stoyanki« LLC (Garages and Parking Lots).

In response to complaints to the governor, the administration of the Krasnogvardeysky District explained the breakdowns as vandalism, and delays in repairs as due to parts delivery times. The general director of the management company, Ivan Neverov, supported this version.

«Regular acts of vandalism. You open the elevator cabin, and there, for example, a panel is broken out. Or the lights are unscrewed to zero... The elevator stops, we repair it. We turn it on — and something like that happens again,» stated Neverov.

He also reported that surveillance cameras, which could have recorded the vandals, are also out of order. «The cameras were also broken, pulled out right with the cable,» noted the general director.

Residents doubt this version, demanding that the inspecting authorities deal with the responsible persons. Among possible causes of the problems, they themselves cite the large number of social apartments in the building.

The administration of the Krasnogvardeysky District provided updated data. For 2025, over 770 appeals to the management company regarding elevators have been recorded. The average repair time after serious damage, which is attributed to vandalism, is about two months. The total damage is estimated at over 1.1 million rubles (approximately $11,000 at current rates). Repairs are funded by the management company«s funds, since the debt for utility payments in these buildings exceeds 70%.