Why did Nurgaleev scare Sandalov with the threat of a cold collapse?

      "They are not trying to solve the problem and they don't even come to the town to see what's going on... Why have funds still not been allocated to solve the problem? In particular, to buy the boiler house from the bankrupt company (Teplosnab LLC)," Nurgaleev said.

      Responding to the deputy's version of events — "If the town freezes, the plant will freeze too (Molot-Oruzhiye, owner Nurgaleev), you will bear responsibility along with me" — Mikhail Sandalov explained that funds have not been allocated because of "a lack of understanding about which path to take." But as soon as the authorities determine the vector and the price tag to fix the situation, the costs will be included in the budget draft.

      That same day, after our publication "Sandalov promised to sort out heating in Vyatskiye Polyany," the editorial office was hit by a barrage of calls from residents of the district center, "shocked by the behavior of the head of the regional government." In the opinion of local residents, he showed a different reaction to the situation than the one they had expected. What they expected were tones that would "put the presumptuous little tsar in his place":

      "No one believed that the head of the Government had genuinely taken Nurgaleev's speech at face value, which was not criticism but merely a 'naked farce,' because it is precisely the owner of the Molot-Oruzhiye plant who is doing everything to disrupt the heating season and freeze the town," the Vyatskiye Polyany political opposition actively voiced its assumptions.

      Referring to "open sources": the websites of the Arbitration Court and the Federal Bailiff Service, it said that the current debt of the Vyatskiye Polyany defense industry — the Molot-Oruzhiye plant — exceeds one billion rubles (1.1 billion). And a significant portion of the accounts payable, according to plant management, is owed by Teplosnab LLC — the same company that, according to the deputy, is allegedly to blame for the impending cold collapse.

      "We will never believe that Sandalov is unaware that Teplosnab is balancing on the brink of bankruptcy, if not being deliberately driven to bankruptcy, possibly with the sole aim of appropriating the heat-supplying asset into Nurgaleev's hands... Or did Mikhail Anatolyevich — despite our understanding that politics is not so much a subtle art as a dirty business — not want to speak about it in public? There's a reason Nurgaleev keeps repeating that he is 'on the closest of terms with Sokolov,'" the opposition said.

      The information that the Government and the relevant ministries are certainly aware of the difficult Vyatskiye Polyany situation was confirmed by Sandalov himself, who reported that "officials are working on the problem and communicating with creditors. And there is a 'Plan B' for emergencies that will prevent leaving the town without heat."

      Let's be frank

      Newsler.ru was prompted to conduct its own journalistic investigation by several interesting facts. First, from an amateur’s perspective, the head of the Government took the "stalemate," as Nurgaleev called it, rather lightly, stating that the current budget contains no funds to solve Vyatskiye Polyany's heating problem. In other words, he didn't shy away from the possibility of the town being frozen not only this winter but also in the cold of 2026–2027.

      And there is a perfectly real private governmental explanation for what might be called Sandalov's 'reckless courage.'

      "Talks that Vyatskiye Polyany faces a cold threat didn't start today: they raised the issue under Shaklein, didn't forget it under Bely, discussed it later under Vasilyev, but not in the way Nurgaleev is making noise about today. Because the main reason lies precisely in the plant itself, which likely doesn't pay for heat. We've been after the Molot management: forcing, persuading them to repay debts... Yeah, they repaid partially — once a year as promised," a ministry employee shared.

      Second, Nurgaleev, having called the municipal Teplosnab "bankrupt," did not take into account that in 2024 the company's turnover amounted to 449.4 million rubles, while net profit grew to 17.7 million. The organization signed 283 contracts totaling 2.6 billion rubles.

      Interestingly, the new director of Teplosnab, Jamil Ziganshin, categorically denied talk of a possible bankruptcy of the enterprise, which, he claims, "practically has no problems." If, of course, one does not take into account the wear of the heating mains and equipment, because of which "gas overheatings occur." In any case, Jamil Gusmanovich was no less hot in rejecting the suggestion of Molot-Oruzhiye's creditor indebtedness, calling Ravil Nurgaleev almost a benefactor who not only pays for the resources consumed by the plant on time, but "sometimes transfers money... as an advance."

      Third, we managed to get comments on Nurgaleev's speech from deputies who attended the meeting and are "almost sure" that Ravil Ramilievich is probably planning to "grab the heat resource," which he allegedly "personally dreamed of" in private conversations.

      "Of course, if Teplosnab were equipped with new units, boilers, pipes and heating mains, owning it would be like inheriting a piece of El Dorado — the plant's capacities would allow heating not only the town but the entire Vyatskiye Polyany district. But the presence of decrepit equipment, which requires very significant investments, is expensive, troublesome and won't pay off in a year in a small town of 30,000 people. So, listening to Nurgaleev's speech, I thought: ah, you sly fox, you are persuading Sandalov, if not forcing him, to renew and repair the municipal company at the regional budget's expense so you can come in and take everything ready-made? Besides, the scheme isn't new," remarked our interlocutor.

      As the Vyatskiye Polyany source explained, in the district and town leadership, as well as among deputies, he repeatedly heard about alleged pre-existing agreements to sign a concession agreement "under Nurgaleev's control."

      "I don't think Ravil misspoke when he called Teplosnab bankrupt and demanded that the regional government buy the boiler house. Maybe he mixed up his shores or blurted out too much while voicing his personal objectives. And the outright intimidation of Sandalov — saying that the town will freeze, the plant will stop, and we'll have to answer for it — is just beyond the pale... I think Mikhail Anatolyevich was played for a patsy: during the Special Military Operation to publicly accuse the head of a regional government of potentially causing a defense plant to stop — that smells of treason," the interlocutor shared his thoughts.

      By the way, Kirov politicians, "taking into account Ravil Nurgaleev's close relations with the regional and district leadership, as well as with the former director of Teplosnab, Nikolai Bushuev, who became head of Vyatskiye Polyany, believe that 'so far Sandalov is bearing the blow.'"

      "It doesn't take much intelligence, comparing everything said, not to think that under a concession agreement you can skim off the top from the resource for 20–30 years, crank up tariffs and accumulate profits, and then return the beaten-up equipment to Teplosnab. Haven't we been through this in Kirov? Yes, yes, the sad concession of the Vodokanal with KKS," Kirov politicians voiced their view of the situation.

      By the way, among deputies there is a version as to why Nurgaleev "put his foot down" today:

      "Of course, there couldn't be a better time than to scare Sandalov with the consequences of stopping a defense plant. But, as an option, we also consider the fragility of the regional leadership's position, with which there may be an agreement today and none tomorrow. One must consider how the security agencies — local and federal, where leadership has changed — will view the takeover of a resource company. And the fact that today any concession agreement, incidentally pushed by the president, raises increased curiosity and caution in the authorities."

      It is interesting that Mikhail Sandalov's caution about multimillion-ruble financing to purchase the boiler house or repair Teplosnab LLC's equipment and heating mains is quite explainable. For example, the Vyatskiye Polyany "resource company," which lists the boiler house of the bankrupt OJSC "Vyatskopolyansky Machine-Building Plant 'Molot'" among its assets, was established by the municipal "Kombinat 'Zdorovye'" with an authorized capital of... 10,000 rubles. And despite the fact that the founder was officially liquidated back in July 2024, Teplosnab, with turnover of several billion, still operates with the same documents.