Krasnoyarsk residents left in the cold struggle with massive heating bills
Krasnoyarsk experienced two weeks of severe frosts down to -40°C (-40°F). Temperatures dropped to levels the city hadn«t seen in about 20 years. Now residents are estimating how much they»ll have to pay for heating. A week ago, the resource-supplying company responded to NGS24.RU that it«s still too early to say how much the cold will cost Krasnoyarsk residents.
No one wants to pay for a cold home, and NGS24.RU journalist Maria Zarukina, for the sake of a recalculation and fair savings, experienced firsthand the long wait for SGC (Siberian Generating Company) specialists and buck-passing by managing company employees. Why Krasnoyarsk residents will pay for +11°C (52°F) in their apartments as if it were +26°C (79°F) and what needed to be done to get the coveted recalculation — in her extensive report.
«The bill is like a verdict; it«s scary to open»
-40°C (-40°F) frosts hit Krasnoyarsk on January 16. The first complaints from residents about lack of heat poured into the Telegram channel of city mayor Sergey Vereshchagin that same evening.
First, residents of the recently annexed villages of Solontsy and Minino, following a scandalous municipal reform, complained about no heating due to power outages (private houses there rely on electric heating). Next, residents of Krasnoyarsk«s Solnechny microdistrict complained about utility service failures.
On January 19, Mayor Sergey Vereshchagin wrote in the same Telegram channel that complaints about heat and water outages were coming from other city districts. In response, Krasnoyarsk residents flooded the mayor«s Telegram channel with photos of home thermometers. Residents complained that temperatures in apartments were holding at around +11°C (52°F).
— In the kindergarten of Lyceum No. 10 on Karbyshev Street, it«s 15°C (59°F) in the group rooms. Children are walking around dressed. And how about in your office, how many degrees? — a user named Alexander asks.
The next day, January 20, Vereshchagin published a post where he wrote that «he demands a response to residents« complaints about cold in apartments», and stated that he instructed district administrations to monitor the resolution of each problem. He added that there was no systemic failure, explained what resource-supplying organizations are responsible for, and what — managing companies are responsible for, and noted that the persistent frosts are exposing problems with interpanel seams and window insulation.
— These issues need to be taken up by managing companies and homeowners« associations in preparation for next winter, — wrote Vereshchagin.
A couple of days later, on January 22, the same text, but with slightly harsher wording, Vereshchagin delivered on video — during his visit to SATP (Specialized Motor Transport Enterprise). The mayor«s visit was covered by journalists from state and quasi-state publications.
Answering a question from one of them, Vereshchagin stated:
— For each district administration, I ordered direct lines to be opened so people could call and ask their question. For each case I demand that there be a debriefing. For each case, a thermal inspection must work consisting of the managing company, district administration specialists, and the resource-supplying organization. So that every apartment is visited and all cases are taken under control.
Looking ahead, note that representatives of district administrations were far from present in every thermal inspection that visited residents. In the press service of the mayor«s office, NGS24.RU journalist Maria Zarukina was explained that «district employees visited most addresses.»
To say exactly how many apartments administration employees visited personally, the mayor«s office could not, since «such information was not collected.»
— In what form is control exercised by the district administration? — we also asked the mayor«s office representatives.
— Control is exercised through actual contact with the citizens who appealed, — they responded.
During the video comment, Vereshchagin also reported that their specialists helped repair a boiler, due to which residents of Svobodny had been freezing for a week. People complained that they couldn«t get help from either the managing company or the district administration. It also turned out that by the start of the frosts, the EVRZ boiler house had been almost non-operational for several days. The boiler broke down there for the second time in the last two months. Previously, NGS24.RU reported that in 2025 the enterprise»s capacity was reduced by 80%, with four out of five boilers disconnected.
In total, according to Vereshchagin, as of February 22, he received over 200 appeals from residents and 120 requests to the emergency service 005.
«I called, they told me warm words that warmed me up»
Hotlines on heating issues, as promised by the new mayor, were indeed opened in all districts of Krasnoyarsk, however residents began to complain en masse that it turned out to be impossible to get through.
In the mayor«s office, NGS24.RU journalist was informed that the hotlines received 411 calls. The phones worked from January 19 to 23. In how many cases the problems were fully resolved, the mayor»s office as of January 27 could not say, since «the information has not yet been summarized.» At the same time, they clarified that unresolved problems also remained.
— It«s important that for a heating recalculation, residents must have an act on hand confirming that it was not warm enough in the apartment and the actual temperature was below the norm, — explains housing and utilities expert Roman Kazakov.
Therefore, if it was impossible to get through to specialists or they came when it had already warmed up, proving that the service was provided poorly or not at all is practically impossible. Through trial and error, NGS24.RU journalist Maria Zarukina found out that getting specialists to come is a whole quest.
How it«s supposed to work
NGS24.RU journalist Maria Zarukina, like other freezing Krasnoyarsk residents in their apartments, tried to record the temperature at home for a recalculation. Further in first person:
— Since getting through to the district administration hotline proved difficult, I decided to act through the managing company. However, glitches arose in this scheme as well.
Previously, NGS24.RU published a step-by-step instruction from housing and utilities expert Roman Kazakov. To get a recalculation for insufficient heat, it is necessary:
Call the provider of the utility service — in most buildings, this is the managing company or homeowners« association — and leave a request for measuring the temperature in your apartment. It is important that the appeal is recorded, for which you will be told:
your request number (below you«ll find out why this point turned out to be one of the most important)
the exact time when the inspection should come.
In accordance with Government Decree No. 354 «On Providing Utility Services to Owners and Users of Premises in Apartment Buildings and Residential Buildings» a specialist must arrive within two hours (unless another time is agreed with the consumer).
Specialists must draw up an act, in case the temperature is below:
20°C (68°F) — in regular, non-corner rooms;
22°C (72°F) — in corner rooms.
The act — is your main document for future recalculations.
— Based on the measurements, an act is drawn up. Upon elimination of the issue, another one is drawn up. It is on the basis of these documents that a recalculation is provided for the period when the service was not provided or was provided poorly, — concluded Kazakov.
How it works in reality: tested on myself
In reality, the problem starts already at the first stage — when you only need to notify the provider of the utility service about the cold. Thus, one of Krasnoyarsk«s managing companies refused to accept a complaint and send specialists to measure the temperature.
— Contact SGC directly for measuring the air temperature in the premises. They don«t want to take such requests, although they are obligated and should. They brush it off, refuse, but they have no right. They have their own inspectors there who go to apartments and measure the air temperature in the premises. If people start massively and persistently calling inspectors to draw up acts, SGC will move more. We are not providers, we are a servicing organization. Providers — SGC, they are the heat suppliers. Low parameters come from them, and accordingly, there is underheating throughout the entire building, we are also waiting for an SGC inspector, — explained at managing company «Azbuka» on January 21.
At managing company «Azbuka», they also added that they sent a request to SGC on Monday, January 19, but at the time of speaking with the managing company employee, specialists still hadn«t arrived.
On the SGC hotline, they retort:
— The provider of the service also includes the managing company. That is, they are also responsible for the quality provision of the resource in any case. We are ready to send specialists, but for that you need to contact the dispatch service of «Krasnoyarskaya Teploset», — informed on the SGC hotline after 27 minutes of waiting.
Here it«s worth understanding that responsibility for cold in the house always lies either with the managing company or with the resource suppliers.
— The boundary of responsibility is the wall of the house, up to which SGC is responsible, for the work of in-house equipment the managing company is responsible, — explains Anastasia Dyakova, representative of SGC.
Roman Kazakov confirms, a claim to SGC or any other resource-supplying company can be if they underheated the water, and, for example, 80°C (176°F) is supplied at the entrance to the house — of course, you«ll have no heat in your apartment. In other cases, if SGC heated the water — claims to the managing company.
«You sort it out among yourselves somehow»
— But say, I, for example, don«t understand anything in housing and utilities. Well, I have a cold apartment. What should I do? Ask what temperature I have at the entrance? I don»t even know where to look, what it should be. I need it to be warm, «and you sort it out among yourselves somehow.» If we need to go strictly by the letter of the law, yes, appeal to the service provider — if there are no direct contracts with the resource-supplying organization, then we call the managing company, if the house has a direct contract with resource suppliers, then to them. But in general, it«s logical to notify the managing company: if it»s a normal managing company, then, accordingly, they could also file a claim to the same SGC. The claim, again, is filed not by residents of the apartment building, but by the managing company — residents of the apartment building don«t have readings of the heat carrier at the entrance to the house, — explains Kazakov.
The dispatch service of «Krasnoyarskaya Teploset» did accept a resident«s request after the Krasnoyarsk resident explained for five minutes that according to the managing company»s words, they are not receiving enough heat, and the problem is not on their side.
Dispatch service of Krasnoyarsk Teploset, round-the-clock:
+7 (391) 264-18-62 — right bank
+7 (391) 214-93-51 — left bank
Next, problems begin with the arrival of a specialist
The next stage of obstacles — is waiting for the specialist. In the government decree, it is written that the heating quality inspection must be conducted within two hours of the appeal, unless another time is agreed with the resident. In reality, the coordination time depends not on the resident, but on the workload of specialists.
— Today we«ll pass your appeal to the inspection, if possible tomorrow, then a specialist will come tomorrow, — says the dispatcher of «Krasnoyarskaya Teploset» on January 21.
— So a specialist should arrive within two hours?
— No, there«s no inspector, all our homes are already scheduled for today. So for tomorrow already.
— And tomorrow at what time?
— I can«t say. That»s already the inspection, i.e., another subdivision. Your phone is indicated, if they need to get into the apartment, they«ll call you.
— How can they measure the temperature without getting into the apartment?
— They«ll call you.
And again, we resort to the help of a housing and utilities expert; according to Kazakov, this is a direct violation.
— The problem with these «we«ll come tomorrow» is this: is there confidence that they»ll come tomorrow, or will it happen the day after? Or they«ll wait until it»s 18°C (64°F) outside, and then maybe not come at all, — warns the expert.
Looking ahead, that«s exactly what happened. The next day, January 22, no SGC employees came at all. On January 23, the path with the SGC dispatcher started anew.
— Hello. We left a request two days ago to call a specialist to measure the temperature in the apartment two days ago. They were supposed to come yesterday, but no one came.
— To whom did you leave it?
— To this phone number, and I wrote down the request number. (Here we needed the coveted request number, because without it, proving that you appealed earlier would be harder — Author«s note).
— Now I see. So. Well, we passed it to the inspection. They were supposed to come yesterday. Why they didn«t come to you, I don»t know. Do you want me to give you their phone number? That«s already another structural subdivision, i.e., there they are on their own.
How the conversation with the «Krasnoyarskaya Teploset» dispatcher would turn was hard to predict:
— And did the managing company come to your apartment? Did they take measurements?
— The service provider was supposed to come. That is, essentially, you.
— Actually, the inspection is done by the managing company. Well, okay, I«ll pass it to our inspector.
— But you passed it two days ago.
The dispatcher called the supervisor for help.
— Good day, the inspector is in the district, on Monday (that«s in 5 days) I can say whether he was at your apartment or not.
— But I«m in the apartment, no one was here. And the request was for yesterday.
— Yesterday the inspector was not notified of the request, he received it only today.
— So you violated?
— Violated, yes. But inspectors process requests the next day, you had a request for January 22.
— And today is January 23.
— Oh, today is the 23rd. I«ll contact the inspector and call back.
An SGC engineer and a managing company representative arrived at the apartment a few hours later. And placed a large thermometer on the clothes dryer.
An official representative of SGC explained to NGS24.RU that the delay in specialists is due to the fact that now about 100 more requests are coming in than on non-frosty days. They are passed from 005, from city district administrations, from official SGC channels, and from social media. Some of them are related to problems with building structures and violations of the thermal envelope, for which managing companies are responsible.
— Nevertheless, the thermal inspection is involved in examinations based on appeals, including those concerning the work of managing companies, so the duration between a submitted request and the inspector«s visit can be more than two hours. And now, participation in administration commissions has been added to the requests, these are also visits to houses, but they don»t go into the request statistics, also participation in Construction Supervision commissions, also visits and also not in the statistics, — explains SGC employee Anastasia Dyakova.
SGC poorly prepared?
— Considering the sharp frosts and increased load on SGC, can such a delay in specialists be called a standard situation? , — we ask again the housing and utilities expert, Roman Kazakov.
— You understand, a standard situation is like in the Far East, when snow piles up to the seventh floor. That«s a non-standard situation, and there, of course, everyone needs to think together. But when it»s cold outside and resource-supplying organizations are not coping with their duties, well, that means they should have prepared better, — reasons Roman Kazakov.
— Can it be said that SGC always prepared poorly for frost?
— No, despite our «warm» relations with this organization, I can say that it varies. In many cases, there are shortcomings on the part of managing companies, and the current situation is only partly related to SGC underheating water. Why? Well, they lack capacity. Greed doesn«t lead to good. When they grabbed so much for themselves, i.e., the city is gradually switching to them. A beautiful informational legend that our ecology is improving, we»re closing bad boiler houses, switching consumers to our good ones. Nevertheless, our good ones should also ensure the capacity at the collector, which your heat source outputs. And then from the collector to the consumer, the water should actually reach with the right pressure and temperature. In such frost, the parameters are different.
In response to a journalist«s inquiry from NGS24.RU, SGC stated that the company has sufficient resources to meet Krasnoyarsk»s heat needs.
— In 2024, SGC serviced 5409 houses, in 2025 5422 houses, this year 5438 houses, while the increase in heat load in 2024 was 1.84% of the total heat load for the city of Krasnoyarsk, in 2025 — 1.96% of the total heat load for Krasnoyarsk, i.e., the difference between 2025 and 2024 is 0.12%, — explains Anastasia Dyakova in numbers.
Roman Kazakov also adds:
— To say that SGC always prepared the city poorly for winter — you can«t. Compared to many other cities comparable to Krasnoyarsk, overall our situation looks quite good. Notice: there are no global outages. But in the Moscow region, for example, it froze quite a bit — there whole microdistricts are disconnected from heating due to bursts. So the situation in Krasnoyarsk I would describe as a patchwork quilt. Somewhere SGC underperformed — again due to their greed, because everything needs to be switched to them and as quickly as possible, somewhere managing companies performed poorly.
To understand who is to blame, it«s extremely simple: understand what temperature the heat carrier enters the house at. Houses have a meter, including thermocouples that measure temperature, and compare it with the technical documentation for the apartment building — the managing company has it. And you»ll understand who«s to blame: resource suppliers or the managing company, — concluded Kazakov.
All is normal, we«ll go
As mentioned above, the SGC specialist and managing company representative came already on Friday, January 23, when the daytime air temperature rose to -23°C (-9°F). Whereas I left the request on Wednesday, January 21, when the temperature in the morning still dropped to -38°C (-36°F).
In the act, the SGC engineer, however, wrote that the temperature in the apartment — is 23°C (73°F), which complies with GOST.
— You came when it warmed up outside, and now I won«t be able to get a recalculation, but since you said the house is not receiving enough heat, that means you also recorded this with the help of an SGC specialist? — I ask the managing company representative.
— Well, 130°C (266°F) at the entrance turned out, but it should be 110°C (230°F). So the recalculation will be for a very insignificant amount, — he answers.
By the way, a district administration employee was not present on the round; afterwards, for control, no one contacted the residents either.
How to make them pay for every hour
The only way out — is to know that the act, based on which they are obligated to make a recalculation for you, can be drawn up even without the presence of a representative of the resource-supplying organization, if they did not appear within the established timeframes, — insists Roman Kazakov. — The main thing — is to draw it up in the presence of the house council chairperson and two neighbors.
For every hour of poor-quality service provision or its non-provision at all, an adjustment of payment is provided.
— You need two acts, i.e., an opening one, which we draw up in the presence of neighbors, and a closing one (it will be done by specialists after the violations are eliminated — Author«s note). This is needed so that it»s clear for which period to make your recalculation, — summarized Roman Kazakov, housing and utilities expert.
