Residents of Volgograd's 'Swan House' Block Meter Installers

In Volgograd, employees of a meter installation company alarmed residents of the historic «Swan House» on Lenina Street, 19. Workers demanded that the building council chair, Sergey Ostrovsky, open the basement to install communal utility meters, claiming it was part of a capital repairs program. The activist, however, is convinced an attempt is being made to infiltrate the building by malicious fraudsters.

«I asked them to provide documents confirming they actually have a contract, signed acts — they couldn«t provide anything, they refuse. They say: »Everything is with the capital repairs fund and the management company.« They are installing God-knows-what meters that don»t even work. We need to replace the pipes, not the meters,» says Sergey Ostrovsky. «I didn«t let them in because no documents were provided to me. They are aggressively imposing this on other buildings through threats to the management company, promising pressure from »the governor and his deputies« structures.»»

The management organization, UK «TsentrVolga» LLC (the management company «TsentrVolga»), which services the building, reported that the company «Intelpribor» did indeed deliver documents for the installation of communal water meters.

«According to our information, this company won a billion-rouble contract. Using money from the capital repairs fund, they are installing meters. The work commencement act was brought to us only with the signature of «Intelpribor» management; there were no other signatures there. No written request for access to the basement premises has come to us,» says Inna Zayko, deputy director of «UK TsentrVolga». «In Ostrovsky«s building, the cold water meter is not working; people pay according to standard rates.»

The regional capital repairs fund confirmed that the specified company did conclude a contract for meter installation:

«According to information from UNO «The Regional Fund for Capital Repairs of Apartment Buildings», the apartment building located at: Volgograd, Lenina Street, 19, is included in the regional program. In 2025, a contract was concluded between the regional operator and the contractor organization for carrying out capital repairs of the common property of the apartment building for a total amount of approximately 370 million roubles (about $4.1 million at current rates). The entire range of services is provided by the contractor company no later than 15 October 2026. In total, 952 communal meters are to be installed under the contract,» a representative of the Volgograd Region Housing and Utilities Committee reported.

According to the «RTS-tender» system, the contract for installing meters was won by IntelPribor LLC with a legal address in Moscow. The total contract price is 413,128,878 roubles (about $4.6 million at current rates), and the list of buildings where the company must install meters numbers over a thousand addresses. The deadline for the work is 15 October 2031.

Meanwhile, the website of the capital repairs fund for apartment buildings states that from 2026 to 2028, the building is scheduled to have collective (communal) meters for resource consumption installed, as well as control and regulation units for cold water consumption, roof repairs (last done in 2008), and repairs to the facade and basement of the building. However, according to the fund«s data, repairs of internal building utility networks were scheduled from 2023 to 2025.

The chief engineer of Intelpribor company, Vladimir Duntsov, confirming the existence of a valid contract with the regional capital repairs fund, took the activist«s complaints philosophically:

«This is normal. Some think that because of the meters there will be extra costs. People often call us before the start of work and start conflicts, saying: «Now that»s it, debts will be pinned on us, they«ll make us pay.» The presence of a communal meter is required by law,» the interlocutor says. «The fact is that many meters work incorrectly; residents rewind them, stop them, supposedly not consuming water and not paying. But a communal meter with dispatching — it transmits data to a central dispatch every 15 minutes — immediately shows how much the building actually consumes.»

The company«s foreman, Mikhail Lyakhov, who supervises the inspection of premises and meter installation, was very surprised by the activist»s negative reaction:

«Usually we don«t have such conflicts. We talk to people, explain, they agree. The workers complained to me that Ostrovsky isn»t letting them in. The man dug in his heels, «show me the documents, without a contract I won»t let you in.« All the documents are with the capital repairs fund, I explained this to Ostrovsky, but he refused to open the basement. I called him on the phone, tried to negotiate, explained that »Concessions« should already cut off the water when we start work. He says: »No! Until they send me the documents personally, I won«t open anything!»» Mikhail Lyakhov recounted.

The installation of new meters on the communal water supply system in the historic building has so far not been accomplished.