Irkutsk Road Service Reports 1.5B Ruble Hole, Minister Assures Stability
The director of the Irkutsk Region Road Service (DSIO), Vladimir Aksamentov, reported a debt of 1.5 billion rubles (about $15 million at current rates) to suppliers and contractors, which had accumulated by the end of 2025. But the Minister of Transport of Irkutsk Region, Maxim Lobanov, assured that the crisis situation will be resolved. The discussion of the situation in DSIO took place today in the relevant committee of the Legislative Assembly.
DSIO is owned by the government of Irkutsk Region. Financial results for 2025 are not yet available. But based on 2024 results, the enterprise«s revenue decreased by 18%, to 9.18 billion rubles (about $92 million), and net profit fell by 7.5%, to 60.1 million rubles (about $601,000).
At the end of 2024, the Road Service faced financial difficulties. At that time, the »customer« owed it more than 1 billion rubles (about $10 million), and at the end of 2025, the company»s management announced accounts payable of 1.3 billion rubles (about $13 million). It also became known that subcontractors and suppliers were suing the Road Service, and the company«s accounts were being frozen. This, according to DSIO leaders, could lead to disruption of road maintenance in the region.
Based on last year»s results, Governor Igor Kobzev promised that «all obligations will be fulfilled to the Road Service in full,» and that there is no crisis.
We previously reported on Aksamentov«s presentation here. According to DSIO management, the problem arose due to a lack of funding for the service, reduced revenue from work, and the performance of non-core work related to cleanup after the 2019 flood.
Over the past year, lawsuits have been filed against the Road Service in arbitration court totaling over 1.1 billion rubles (about $11 million). Currently, lawsuits worth 300 million rubles (about $3 million) are being considered, and decisions have been issued for 100 million rubles (about $1 million). Because bailiffs are collecting the debt, DSIO«s settlement accounts are constantly frozen or blocked.
In Aksamentov«s opinion, the first priority is to »neutralize the threat of account closures« — to settle with counterparties who have filed lawsuits and already obtained court decisions.
The head of DSIO also listed several proposals on how to correct the situation in DSIO:
Compensate for losses incurred during the cleanup after the 2019 flood, amounting to 651 million rubles (about $6.5 million);
Restore subsidies from the regional budget for updating the road construction machinery fleet (previously, 123 million rubles each were planned for 2025–2026, about $1.2 million per year);
Cancel the decision to pay dividends of 30 million rubles (about $300,000) and direct these funds to enterprise development;
Increase funding for road maintenance to 7 billion rubles (about $70 million);
Develop a factoring transaction mechanism with the participation of the regional government as a guarantor (this would allow the Road Directorate to pay DSIO timely for completed work);
Obtain a loan from Irkutsk Airport in the amount of 1.5 billion rubles (about $15 million) with a minimal interest rate.
The last proposal was discussed separately. As Transport Minister Maxim Lobanov clarified, this option is also being considered, but the issue is not fully resolved.
The committee head, Viktor Poboikin (who himself once headed DSIO), decided to note the key figures, and DSIO Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance Svetlana Kukuruz answered his questions in detail.
— We understand that there are some contracts planned for execution, we understand the money needed for the company to survive in 2026. How big is the total hole? — asked Poboikin.
— The total hole is around one and a half billion, — Svetlana Kukuruz answered him.
According to her, with timely funding and attraction of credit funds, it will be possible to carry out the 2026 program, but the company will not be able to service the already accumulated accounts payable. The situation is worsened by the fact that money the enterprise receives from the customer is written off against old debts. «This prevents us from working,» emphasized the DSIO deputy director. Moreover, due to account freezes, the bank refuses to process loans that are now needed for priority needs, including fuel and lubricants.
According to Svetlana Kukuruz, the enterprise attracts loans in the first half of the year. Loan debt reaches up to 900 million rubles (about $9 million), but by the third or fourth quarter it decreases, as repairs and construction are completed. At the start of the year, the company«s debt is 315 million rubles (about $3.2 million), but this money is insufficient.
«Now even opening credit lines for 500 million rubles (about $5 million) won»t have any effect, only because there isn«t a single day when an account is free. That is, freezes are imposed on absolutely all accounts for the same counterparty, and there are several of them. And while these funds are being collected, bailiffs impose additional freezes, so it»s an endless process,« noted the DSIO deputy director.
— And when will the collapse come, in your opinion, objectively say? Everyone understands that loans are needed to survive the first half-year, loans can«t be attracted because there is debt, there are freezes on accounts, to cover everything, 1.5 billion isn»t available, there are no decisions on it. What date will you run out of money for operations this year? — asked Poboikin.
— The collapse will come on Monday–Tuesday, the 26th, when we won«t be able to pay the tax arrears — 175 million rubles (about $1.8 million). We were supposed to pay it in December. And on January 28th, the deadline for current tax payments will arrive, and the tax office will charge us 350 million rubles (about $3.5 million) to the settlement account, — Svetlana Kukuruz answered directly.
Transport Minister Maxim Lobanov of Irkutsk Region took the floor, deciding to «disperse a bit of this gloom that was discussed.»
He noted that «there are always many problems,» and the road service «with a clean slate and without debts, without loans, never existed in its life.» According to the minister, no enterprise works like that, and the presence of accounts receivable and payable is a «normal phenomenon.»
In Lobanov«s opinion, the situation in DSIO was largely influenced by »cash gaps« that occurred due to »irregular funding« starting in 2024.
«Today, we have practically closed all the debt, of course,» declared the minister, adding that «the situation accumulated like a snowball.»
Lobanov emphasized that road maintenance work is still being carried out.
«The government of Irkutsk Region will find a solution for how the road service can work stably,» stated the minister.
He also stressed that the enterprise actually doesn«t need 1 billion rubles (about $10 million).
«Now January has come, no one has really paid taxes, but we have already financed over 200 million rubles (about $2 million) to pay salaries, unblock accounts. That is, this work — it»s a creative, difficult path. I«m not saying that it comes easily to us, in such complex bureaucratic procedures we still find a solution,» remarked the minister.
Lobanov added that an anti-crisis plan has been drawn up for the Road Service. «And in general, stability, I am convinced, we will have it,» he assured, adding that it«s difficult to predict »dates« for court proceedings, so these tasks are handled manually.
The head of the relevant committee, Viktor Poboikin, expressed hope that the minister «understands what he»s talking about,« and this is »not just the word «halva» repeated many times« (a Russian idiom meaning empty promises), and that the Road Service will nevertheless withstand.
In a statement to the «IrCity» portal, the press service of the Irkutsk Region government clarified that as of January 19, the total amount of debt from the Priangarye budget to the Road Service is 48 million rubles (about $480,000). Another 168 million rubles (about $1.7 million) is debt for road work in municipalities. «Work is now underway to repay it,» emphasized the regional government.
