Volgograd Apartments Lack Water, Heating for a Week

Residents of a multi-apartment building in the Krasnoarmeysky District have been suffering from a lack of cold water and heating for a week after pipe bursts. At the end of January, tenants had to place basins in their apartments and wade through flooded stairwell landings — the problem was then solved, but not completely. However, the management company stated that work is being carried out regularly and still continues — there are too many problems with the building, and they cannot be solved all at once.

Footage sent by V1.RU readers shows flooded stairwell floors and stunned residents who came out of their apartments in complete bewilderment about what to do, with water dripping actively from the ceiling. These videos were taken on 29 January — the same day the tenants contacted the editorial office asking for help:

«Last night, a heating pipe burst in a room on the 9th floor. No one lives there — the room was sold, and the tenant left no contact details,» explained one of the female residents of the building. «It has already flooded rooms down to the first floor. All residents are calling the management company, but no one has arrived yet…»

After this, the V1.RU editorial office contacted the Volgograd administration for clarification: what caused the burst and when would it be fixed?

«According to the management organizations, at 2 Stoletova Street, specialists from the management company have begun the work necessary to repair the damaged in-building networks,» the mayor’s office reported around noon on 29 January.

However, according to the tenants, they were flooded again on 31 January — this time a heating pipe burst on the 3rd floor. After that, water no longer flooded the floors, but disappeared from the taps along with the heating.

«Cold water has been absent for more than a week, there has been no heating for a long time, the management company is unreachable, written requests go unanswered,» says a V1.RU reader. «If anyone does get through, they promise a team of plumbers for the third day, but they never show up.»

Moreover, according to the residents, the incident on 29 January was not the first pipe burst in the building.

«The pipes there are completely rotten. We filed a collective complaint with the previous management company, and later, not receiving a satisfactory response, we filed complaints with the prosecutor’s office, Rospotrebnadzor, and the State Housing Inspectorate (GZHI). In May, the first court hearing took place — we won the case, but by that time the former management company had been stripped of its license to manage our building. On the attic run water supply and heating pipes that are in very poor condition, plus the roof leaks, resulting in constant flooding of the upper floors, and recently also of the lower floors due to similar pipe bursts. The incidents on 25 and 29 January are just isolated cases among everything that is happening.»

Svetlana Degtyareva, director of the management company Volzhsky Krai, which services building No. 2 on Stoletova Street, explained that they simply had not yet had time to restore all systems.

«The building came to us recently — it’s our first month with it,» Svetlana Degtyareva told V1.RU. «It arrived in a terrible state because the previous company apparently didn’t maintain it properly and the tenants fled from them. We haven’t even issued them payments yet. The utilities are very bad. We restore electricity every day — the switchboards on all floors have been redone. Many meters of water supply pipe sections have been replaced. But unfortunately, it’s a huge area, and when turning it on, a burst occurs somewhere again. The welders work even at night. When we first entered, everything was in water, all the utilities.»

Before Volzhsky Krai, the management company Paradigma was responsible for the building, which the tenants sued for inaction, and the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. According to Svetlana Degtyareva, after that the building was in a deplorable state.

«We have now restored and looped 36 radiators in 36 rooms because they were frozen due to residents leaving vents open in such cold weather. We were looking for owners to get in... It’s difficult, especially since we don’t yet fully know the building and the residents. Some come forward themselves and are understanding. I know it’s easier to blame the company and that residents want everything done quickly, but unfortunately, the building came to us in this condition, and we cannot restore everything at once — it’s a matter of both human and financial resources.»

The V1.RU editorial office is checking with the Volgograd administration when water supply and heating will be restored at 2 Stoletova Street.