The heating season has started: what is important to know Pskovic

The heating season of 2026-2027 in the Pskov region has entered the phase of practical operation, however, the parliamentary hour scheduled for October 29 on the readiness of municipalities for winter, the deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the region moved to the November session: not all territories received readiness passports. At the same time, the topic of housing and communal services became dominant in the speeches of the factions at the third session of the eighth convocation, where specific figures were voiced on tariffs, wear of networks and the burden on the family budgets of residents of the region.

What obligations are enshrined in the municipal act on heat start-up, why the parliamentary hour did not take place on the appointed date and what is behind the change in communal payment - the tariff, volume, metering devices or the procedure for managing the house - is analyzed by MK in Pskov.

For residents of Pskov, schools, hospitals and boiler houses, the end of September was not a divination “when will finally give warmth”, but specific dates with responsibilities. The decree of the city administration dated 25.09.2026 No. 1434 recorded a simple schedule: the coolant was submitted to subscribers on September 29, social facilities were connected according to applications no later than the same date, the housing stock received heat no later than October 1.

The solution did not come from scratch. Back in April, the administration approved a plan for preparing the municipal economy for the autumn-winter period of 2026-2027 (resolution No. 581) from 27.04.2026. That is, networks, sources and consumers were prepared in advance for the winter, and the September launch was the final stage of work. The resolution itself is based on the Federal Rules for the provision of utilities (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354) and on Articles 28 and 32 of the Charter of the City of Pskov.

For the coordination of all enterprises and organizations during the heating period, the deputy head of the city of Pskov A.K. Saenko is responsible - the document instructs him to control the execution. The document came into force immediately after the official publication in the newspaper “Pskov News” and on the website of the city district.

A municipal act does not replace a federal rule, but makes it locally measurable. The rules for the provision of utilities fix: the heating period begins at the average daily temperature of the outside air below +8 ° C for five consecutive days. The decision to start is taken by the authorized executive body of the subject or local self-government body. Resolution No. 1434 separately specifies that heat supply systems are included in accordance with the outside air temperature and SNiP standards. The municipal term determines the obligation, the technological basis - the conditions for a real launch.

In other words, heat is included not by the national calendar and not by the number of messages in social networks, but by thermometer, contract and signature of the authorized person.

The third session of the Legislative Assembly of the region of the eighth convocation opened in the assembly hall of the government of the Pskov region on October 29. Of the 26 elected deputies, 25 participated in the meeting.

Chairman of the Committee on Construction, Housing, Energy and Transport Dmitry Bystrov came to his colleagues with a proposal to remove from consideration the issue of information from the Pskov region government on the readiness and beginning of the heating season in municipal and urban districts, considered within the framework of the parliamentary hour, and postpone it to the next session.

We have received an initiative from the regional government to postpone the parliamentary hour on the topic of the readiness of our municipalities for the heating season due to the fact that there is an order from the Ministry of Energy, where municipalities receive readiness passports. The deadline for their receipt is until November 15. Taking into account the fact that not all municipalities have received such passports, I propose to postpone the parliamentary hour to the next session in November, said Dmitry Bystrov.

MPs voted to move. A full government report on the state of infrastructure in each municipality will take place after November 15, when the procedure for issuing readiness passports is completed.

The official website of the Legislative Assembly and the social network Vkontakte broadcast the plenary session live.

The postponement of the parliamentary hour did not remove the topic from the agenda. In accordance with Article 53, the Rules of Procedure gave the floor to representatives of factions to address topical issues before adopting the agenda. It was in this block that the most acute figures and assessments of the state of the housing and communal services of the region were voiced.

The Ministry of Tariffs and Energy of the Pskov region sent to the Federal Antimonopoly Service a proposal to increase from July 2027 the payment for housing and communal services in the region by an average of 25 percent. The representative of the faction “Fair Russia” Natalia Tudakova at the third session of the regional parliament of the eighth convocation said:

“It is not just a number. This is a blow to every family, salaries, pensions. We are told that this is only a project, but the agreement is ahead. However, if the agency has already sent such a figure to Moscow, then it considers it normal.”.

She cited data on the already held October increase: tariffs increased by more than 9 percent, and the second time in a year. Electricity rose by 1.2 percent, gas by 9.8, water and sanitation by 9.4. Over the past 25 years, utility tariffs for the population, she said, have increased by more than 366 percent.

Natalia Tudakova also drew attention to the state of infrastructure: the wear of networks in the Pskov region is an average of 70-80%, in some settlements it reaches 100. At the same time, according to Rosstat, over the past year, water supply networks in the country have been updated by 0.9 percent, sewerage - by 0.4, heat - by 1.9, while the strategy for the development of housing and communal services requires at least 2.5 percent.

Separately, she focused on the burden on family budgets. The average salary in the region for January-June 2026 amounted to 68,519 rubles. Twenty-five percent of this amount is 17,129 rubles. “But how many people in the region receive such a salary? In reality, people live on 40-45,000, and the pension is 20,000. The total bill for housing and communal services for an ordinary one-bedroom apartment for current payments in September and October has already amounted to more than 9,000 rubles a month, the deputy noted. According to her, she receives dozens of appeals from residents who are in debt bondage and unable to pay for utilities.

Natalia Tudakova referred to the position of the speaker of the state Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, who at the plenary session in October reminded: the government has set the upper bar for the growth of tariffs during the year is not higher than 11.8 percent. At the same time, decisions are made at the regional level, and a region that raises tariffs above this level must justify such a decision. Vyacheslav Volodin urged deputies to analyze the situation in the context of each region and involve the FAS in discussions if they doubt the validity of the figures.

In August, activists of Fair Russia gathered more than 7,000 signatures in the Pskov region against the already held October tariff increase. The faction proposed to conduct a full audit of the communal system, at the legislative level to limit family spending on housing and communal services to 15 percent of income, and to cover the difference at the expense of budget funds, and to strengthen public and state control in tariff policy.

Deputy of the LDPR faction Dmitry Mikhailov confirmed: from October 1 in the Pskov region, the second stage of the index of rising fees for housing and communal services came into force. According to him, the index amounted to 9.4 percent, and taking into account permissible deviations, the aggregate increase in fees can reach 11.5 percent compared to January 2026.

In Pskov, cold water rose from 42 rubles 40 kopecks to 43 rubles per cubic meter, drainage - from 31 rubles 86 kopecks to 34 rubles 86 kopecks. Mikhailov asked whether this growth is commensurate with the quality of services that citizens receive, and expressed confidence that most residents believe that they overpay.

He reminded his colleagues of the experience of the previous convocation: the deputies examined the situation in Zaplusya of the Plus district and in Muravyovo-2 of the Gdovsk district, where the problems with heat supply approached catastrophic. “Our task this year is to prevent such situations,” Dmitry Mikhailov stressed. The faction again took the initiative to return the housing and communal services sector under full state control, to conduct a detailed analysis of the justification of tariffs and link them to the real quality of services.

Chairman of the Legislative Assembly Boris Yelkin reacted to the statements of the factions, urging his colleagues not to engage in populism, but to understand in detail the mechanism of tariff regulation.

I would not engage in populism here, but I would understand in detail how tariff regulation is really being developed, how the tariff is being created, what is included in it, what investment program it includes, what obligations are to our enterprises. We all know the state of our enterprises, and our common task is to make sure that these enterprises exist and support the housing and communal services system of the region, Boris Yelkin said.

He noted the unprecedented support that the region receives in the housing sector, pointed to the volume of grid replacement and mentioned the reconstruction of boiler house No. 9, which the Minister of Construction and Housing noted at the federal level. “It is clear that the situation is not easy, so we must work together on this. But to make sure that heat, water and electricity reach the end consumers, the chairman concluded.

When the line "heating" appears in the receipt in October, the amount may surprise. But it is important to understand: this is not a single number, but a set of terms, each of which has its own basis.

Let's take a simple formula. The tariff is the price of one unit of resource, for example, one cubic meter of water or one gigacalorium of heat. Volume - how much resource the house or apartment consumed. The total amount in the receipt is the result of multiplying the tariff by volume, plus payment for housing maintenance, a contribution to overhaul, possible recalculations, penalties and adjustments.

Metering devices play a key role for heating. If there is a household counter in the house, the volume is considered according to his testimony. If there are individual meters in apartments, they are taken into account. If there are no counters, they are charged according to the standard. The order of distribution of volume between apartments and common property also affects the final figure.

Tariffs for the population are not taken from the ceiling. The authorities establish or restrict them in the order of state regulation. Federal and regional authorities determine marginal growth indices, above which the fee for the year can not rise. Residents can check specific values for the Pskov region by official decisions of the regional regulatory body.

Why does it sometimes seem that “everything has grown” when one line of receipt has changed? Because a person sees the total amount, but does not see the terms. Mixing the tariff, volume and other items into one digit creates a sense of a sharp jump, even if only one component has risen in price. If the tenant sees only the result, but does not understand what it came from, even the legal payment is perceived as unreasonable.

The heating season exposes the division of responsibility. The decree of the administration of the city of Pskov imposes the provision of coolant supply on heat carrier manufacturers, and the inclusion of heat supply systems on city facilities, taking into account applications for the social sphere and terms for the housing stock. In everyday operation, the border passes by balance sheet: the resource supplying organization is responsible to the established point, the management company or HOA - for intra-house networks and common property, the owner of the premises - for intra-apartment equipment.

A cold battery does not always mean an accident on the backbone. The reason can be local: air traffic jam, insufficient pressure, blocked valve, unremoved cap, incorrect balancing of risers. If the problem is repeated targeted or massively, it becomes a reason to check the execution of the municipal act and the quality of the service. Fixation is of practical importance: date, time, application number, name of the organization and the person who accepted the appeal. Without a fixed appeal, recalculation remains an abstraction; once fixed, it becomes a legally enforceable requirement.

The ability to check specific parameters determines the transparency of the housing and utilities sector: at what rate the accrual is made, how much service is taken into account, why the current amount differs from the previous one, what document sets the connection period and who is obliged to eliminate the violation. The law obliges to disclose information about houses, management companies, resource supplying organizations, contracts, tariffs, accruals and indications of metering devices in the state information system of housing and communal services. For a resident of Pskov and the region GIS housing and communal services serves as a working environment for reconciliation of payment data.

The growth of utility load in the heating season affects households in different ways. Housing legislation provides for a subsidy for the payment of housing and utilities: the right to it arises if expenses exceed the maximum allowable share in the total family income. The specific order of appointment, the list of documents and the terms of consideration for the Pskov region determine the official acts of the body of social protection. With a significant increase in costs, a citizen has the right to apply to the social protection body at the place of residence to check the availability of the right to a subsidy. The calculation takes into account income, family composition, housing area, tariffs and standards. A subsidy is not a favor or a sign of weakness, but a statutory insurance. But, like any insurance, it works only when it is known about it and when it is issued.

Resolution No. 1434 refers to the city district "City of Pskov". It does not set the timing of the heating season for the Great Onions, municipal areas, urban and rural settlements of the region. For other territories, the terms are determined by separate municipal legal acts. That is why the postponement of the parliamentary hour to November makes practical sense: MPs intend to hear the report of the government after all municipalities have completed the procedure for obtaining passports of readiness and the picture is complete.

At the third session, the Committee on Construction, Housing, Energy and Transport also presented to the Legislative Assembly employees of the Pskov Heat Networks municipal enterprise: Deputy Director for Economics and Finance Maxim Deshkin and a locksmith for maintenance of heat networks Konstantin Sukhov. This decision was adopted unanimously by the deputies.

The heating season checks the housing and communal services of the Pskov region not only with a degree in batteries, but also with the ability of the system to explain each decision. The Pskov experience shows that when a published municipal act fixes the start-up time of heat, the resident has support, and the performers have a measurable obligation. The postponement of the parliamentary hour did not remove the topic from control - on the contrary, factional speeches showed that the issues of tariffs, wear and quality of services are acutely facing the region and require not a one-time discussion, but systematic work. The November report of the government on the results of certification of municipalities should give an opportunity to assess the readiness of each district separately, and not on average for the region.

The Pskov region does not need to prove that the topic of housing and communal services is painful: this is confirmed by the figures of wear and tear, signatures under petitions and appeals to the reception of deputies. The task is more complicated - to turn the heating season from a band of expectations and explanations in hindsight into a debugged process, where heat comes according to the rules, the score consists of the checked components, and any deviation has an address, a deadline and a consequence. If this logic works, trust in the utility system will begin to grow not from high-profile reports, but from everyday predictability: turned on on on time, accrued clearly, answered on the merits.