Industrialists are refusing hundreds of millions, and activists are calling Rospotrebnadzor
The Nizhny Tagil water supply monopolist, Vodokanal-NT, is losing hundreds of millions of rubles and cannot prove the right to collect large sums from industrial enterprises. Industrialists are demanding examinations and suspect that the documents submitted by the company are falsified. Against the backdrop of financial proceedings, the monopolist is intensifying competition for control over treatment facilities and, according to observers, is laying claim to managing the new Yuzhnaya water intake station, for the construction of which billions of rubles are being allocated from the budget. With more than significant revenue, Vodokanal-NT, on whose work the life of a city of 300,000 people depends, at its own expense is limited to replacing hundreds of meters of water supply networks, and the municipality, which leased out expensive infrastructure for several million rubles, pays a hundred times more for repairs . At the same time, residents are calling on Rospotrebnadzor to influence the monopolist because of “coca-Cola-colored tap water,” and social activists are once again accusing the company of discharging polluted, foul-smelling water, which then flows along rivers into the Tagil Pond.
Evraz-NTMK filed a claim against Vodokanal-NT LLC for the recovery of 340 million rubles for unjust enrichment. We are talking, according to the publication’s sources, about returning the overpayment for the negative impact.
The company regularly pays tens of millions of rubles in fees in connection with its production activities. However, Vodokanal-NT considers it insufficient. Currently, as part of three lawsuits, the company operating Western wastewater treatment plants is trying to recover about 210 million from Evraz-NTMK. Most of this amount is based on the company’s alleged excess discharges into sewer wells in 2023. However, the evidence presented in the case raised doubts. Lawyers for the industrial enterprise demanded an examination to establish the authenticity of the report of the commission inspection of the sewer well into which the waste water fell. Specialists are also asked to establish the possibility of contaminated water entering the well from other organizations, in particular, the Gazprom Gas Engine Fuel gas filling station.
The ongoing disputes are of fundamental importance for the financial activities of Vodokanal-NT. Payment for negative environmental impact is the main source of income for an enterprise with annual revenue of 1.7 billion rubles. Thus, only from Evraz-NTMK, according to the publication’s interlocutors, revenues account for more than half of this amount.
Significant payments for negative impacts also come from Uralvagonzavod, the wastewater from which goes to the Eastern wastewater treatment plants, which are under the control of Uralkhimplast. To the latter, Vodokanal-NT is obliged to pay a fee for the negative impact based on the collected samples and the volume of wastewater. The parties are in litigation. With their aggravation, a series of publications appeared in the media about the foreign owners of the UHP and the possibility of transferring control over the enterprise to the state, which observers associated with Vodokanal-NT’s attempts to gain control over the Vostochnye wastewater treatment plant.
At the same time, the activities of Vodokanal-NT itself have been criticized more than once by officials, environmentalists and social activists. Under a lease agreement dated 2007 for a period of 25 years, the company operates cold water supply networks (more than 500 kilometers, including 53 of them are water pipelines), sewerage networks, and hydraulic structures. At the same time, the payment for the property, which initially amounted to 2 million rubles, now does not exceed 20 million. As follows from the agreement, the tenant is obliged to carry out not only current, but also major repairs.
“Pravda UrFO” turned to “Vodokanal-NT” with a request to clarify what volume of network repairs is planned for this year. In response to the publication’s call, company representatives reported that management was “extremely busy,” offering to call back later, after which they stopped answering calls from the editorial office’s number.
On its website, the company announced the replacement of five sections of networks with a total length of 277 meters in the spring of 2024. However, at least 5% of city networks need to be replaced every year, the total wear and tear of which has exceeded 60%. Every year, the administration of Nizhny Tagil raises hundreds of millions of rubles for infrastructure repairs, but complaints are regularly received about the quality of tap water. In August alone, Vodokanal-NT received several warnings from Rospotrebnadzor due to “Coca-Cola-colored” liquid coming from the taps.
Issues of pollution of the Chernoistochinsky pond were repeatedly raised by social activists and environmentalists in Nizhny Tagil, who found out that the enterprise discharges untreated sludge into the same reservoir. After the intervention of the prosecutor’s office, a decision was made to build a diversion for the discharge of water, which must undergo preliminary treatment.
Currently, a new Yuzhnaya station is being built in Nizhny Tagil for water intake at a cost of 7 billion rubles. At the same time, social activists and environmentalists do not rule out that the operation of the station will in the future be transferred to Vodokanal-NT as a specialized organization. The administration of Nizhny Tagil did not respond within two days to the publication’s request for a plan for the operation of the facility.
