CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Chechnya not ready for heating season

By Lecha Sadayev

CHECHNYA – The heating season in Chechnya began on October 15. However, the preparation for it by the State domestic utility companies (DUC) in the cities of Grozny, Argun and Gudermes leaves much to be desired.

According to Chechen DUC Minister Abu Sugaipov, most of the republic’s domestic utility system has been destroyed in the course of military actions, and its complete restoration would require 50 billion roubles, while cash resources to a limit of only 1 billion roubles are allocated yearly from the federal budget.

According to the minister, out of 76 boiler rooms in Chechnya, only 46 are ready for operation.

The problem of heat supply is also aggravated by the fact that none of the mountainous districts and only some of the villages in the foothill regions of Chechnya have so far been connected to the state gas supply. Because of this, residents are forced to use valuable species of the surviving forests: oak, beech, ash, and plane. Thus an irreplaceable loss is being inflicted on nature.

If the republic’s authorities were to solve the problem of supplying the population with solid fuel, the need for using firewood would be eliminated. But there is a catastrophic shortage of coal.

According to Adam Abubakarov, deputy head of the republic’s Committee for Deliveries of Solid Fuel, only 5,000 tons of coal have been delivered to Chechnya - 20 times less than the required quantity.

As a result, according to a source from the Chechen DUC Ministry, of the 4,800,000 square metres of Chechnya’s housing space only about 300,000 square metres are ready for heating.

Translated by David McDuff.

(MD/A,T)