Omsk Residents Told Why Heating Mains Are Bursting Across the City

The progress of the heating season in Omsk was discussed at a meeting of the city council«s utilities committee. Deputies found out why there are so many accidents on the networks and how actively they are being repaired.

As explained by Mikhail Gorchakov, first deputy director of the city utilities department, no deviations from temperature schedules were detected at heat sources during the New Year holidays.

‘Consumers and on the heating networks have questions about parameters. These are technical issues related to damage elimination. Weekly meetings are held where the causes of accidents and measures to eliminate them are discussed,’ Gorchakov reported.

As reported by committee chairman Sergei Frolov, since September, 1002 damages have been recorded on the networks of the municipal ‘Heating Company’, with over 9,000 facilities disconnected. A year ago, there were 913 damages. That is, the number of accidents is growing.

The company head Vladimir Dmitriev acknowledged that ‘the damage dynamics have been progressing over the last few years.’ Since the start of the current season, there have been five major incidents in the city, including one on Rokossovsky Street last week.

‘No freezes were allowed, everything went more than well. During low temperatures at night, four teams and two sets of equipment are working,’ Dmitriev stated.

According to the director of the ‘Heating Company’, in Omsk, 50-60 kilometers of pipes need to be replaced per year. Recently, work has been done on only 20 kilometers. A backlog of repairs has accumulated, which has also been a cause of accidents, leaving Omsk residents without heat.

Only in 2025 did the situation begin to change, when for the first time 57 kilometers of heating networks were replaced. In 2026, the modernization program will continue, and the administration is preparing to receive another 325 million rubles (approximately $3.6 million at current rates) for repairs. Nine sections of heating mains will be put in order. Over several years, the tension with accidents on the networks should decrease.

‘The network replacement program will be in effect until 2030. At least 20 kilometers of networks will be done. This will improve, among other things, hydraulic characteristics and heating supply reliability. New networks will serve for at least 50 years. The focus during repairs will be on repairing networks in microdistricts,’ Vladimir Dmitriev explained.

Chief engineer of JSC ‘TGK-11’ Sergei Tsukanov added that for the heating season, the company spent 992 million rubles (approximately $11 million at current rates) on equipment and network repairs. JSC ‘Omsk RTS’, with a standard of five kilometers in 2025, replaced three kilometers — only 1% of their total length.

Deputies asked representatives of resource-supplying organizations why dug-up trenches are visible throughout the city. Vladimir Dmitriev answered that dug-up pipes are not buried until they are sure they are not leaking. As a result, city council representatives took note of the information.

Earlier we reported on an accident on the heating main coming from TPP-2.