Russian Government Reviews Extensive Preparations for 2025-2026 Autumn-Winter Period

Government Convenes on Winter Preparedness

The Russian government held a crucial meeting on December 4, 2025, to review the comprehensive preparations for the 2025-2026 autumn and winter period. Chaired by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the session focused on ensuring the reliable operation of the country's housing, utilities, and electric power infrastructure. The primary objective articulated was to guarantee uninterrupted electricity, heating, and hot water supply to citizens and prevent potential accidents and failures during the cold season.

During his opening remarks, Prime Minister Mishustin emphasized the critical importance of 'sustainable heat and electricity supply' for cities, towns, and the populace. He stressed the need for smooth and efficient operations to avert incidents during winter.

Extensive Infrastructure Upgrades and Financial Commitments

Ministers provided detailed reports on the progress made in preparing the vital infrastructure. Irek Faizullin, Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities, and Sergei Tsivilev, Minister of Energy, presented their findings.

Key highlights from the reports included:

• Ongoing replacement of old heating, water supply, and sewage systems throughout the year.
• Completion of significant work to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply.
• Fuel reserves, including coal, fuel oil, and diesel fuel, have been supplied to relevant companies in amounts exceeding approved standards.
• Regions across the Russian Federation have collectively allocated over 347 billion roubles from their budgets for these preparations.
• The government has provided targeted support, with five regions receiving 6 billion roubles in assistance, and four additional applications currently under review.

Furthermore, steady work has been organized in new Russian entities and border regions, with efforts continuing until all planned measures, particularly for housing and utilities infrastructure and social facilities, are fully implemented.

Enhanced Readiness and Regulatory Measures

The meeting underscored a significant improvement in readiness levels compared to previous years. Of the 3,042 municipalities inspected, 2,890, or 95 percent, received readiness certificates, marking a 6 percent increase from the previous year.

This year's winter preparations were carried out under new, more stringent regulations. For the first time, responsibility for winter readiness has been legally established, and representatives from the Federal Service for the Supervision of Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management (Rostekhnadzor) and the State Housing Inspectorate (Goszhilnadzor) were mandated to participate in facility inspections. Preventive visits were also introduced within the framework of energy supervision, and the rules for assessing readiness were revised.

Emergency services conducted training exercises in every municipality to refine communication plans and identify vulnerabilities. As of the meeting date, readiness levels stand at 99.8 percent for residential buildings, 99.9 percent for social facilities, and 99.8 percent for public utility infrastructure.

Long-Term Infrastructure Development

The ongoing modernization work is part of the 'Modernisation of Public Utilities Infrastructure' federal project, initiated under presidential instruction. This project aims to construct 2,000 water supply facilities, modernize over 50,000 kilometers of networks, and improve service quality for 20 million people across the country by 2030.

In a related development, a strategic session chaired by Prime Minister Mishustin on November 25, 2025, discussed the 'Strategy for Developing the Construction Sector and the Housing and Utilities Infrastructure until 2030' with a forecast until 2035, highlighting the government's long-term commitment to infrastructure development. Additionally, plans for steeper utility tariff hikes between 2026 and 2028, with a cumulative increase of 27.9% for housing and utilities payments, are intended to fund further infrastructure investments.