Every fourth pipe needs replacing: worn-out networks make utility failures in Kirov inevitable.

      According to Rosstat, at the beginning of 2025 the total length of heating and steam networks in the Kirov region amounted to 1,997 kilometers. Of these, 523.5 kilometers — that is, one in four — require urgent replacement. Almost 460 kilometers are officially classified as dilapidated. In other words, a significant part of the region’s heating networks are not physically capable of operating without failures.

      Incidentally, in 2024 between 155 and 189 incidents on heating networks were recorded in the Kirov region. By this measure the region was among the leaders in the Volga Federal District. At the same time, over the whole year owners and lessees of the networks replaced just 48.9 kilometers of pipes — less than 10% of the already identified need. The pace of renewal, to put it mildly, is not keeping up with the rate of wear.

      The situation with water supply looks even rosier... in a statistical sense. The total length of water supply networks in the region exceeds 7,500 kilometers, nearly 3,000 of which require replacement. The in-yard networks have been especially notable: the share of worn-out sections there approaches 50%. In 2024 more than 350 incidents on water supply networks were recorded.

      There are also “invisible losses.” Over the year 71.5 million cubic meters of water were fed into the network, but only 57.2 million reached consumers. The rest dissolved into leaks and unaccounted-for consumption. In the “savings from modernization of water supply networks” column for the Kirov region, according to Rosstat, there is still a dash.

      Against this background, including Kirov in the list of cities with an increased risk of accidents during the heating season looks more like a formality. The Russian Ministry of Energy classified the regional capital among the municipalities where, due to high wear of the heating networks and the quality of preparations, there is a threat of disruptions during the winter.

      It should also be mentioned that literally today, January 23, a concerned resident of Kirov contacted the editorial office — on Transportny Proezd heat has been going into the air for more than three months. No one is hurrying to fix the burst pipe. Let us also recall that there are still one and a half months left of winter. How many similar “emergencies” should be expected?

      Municipal utility accidents in Kirov and the region are not a weather surprise or “anomalous frosts.” They are a predictable result of many years of network operation that are renewed noticeably more slowly than they fail. And winter, in the final analysis, has nothing to do with it — it simply comes every year.