Accounts receivable of consumers to energy companies reached 17 billion tenge — Beibut Atamkulov

At a government session chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin, the issue of readiness for the heating season was considered. Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev and Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Beibut Atamkulov presented their reports on the measures taken.

“To ensure the stable operation of the unified energy system of the country, reliable supply of electricity and heat to consumers, energy companies continue to prepare for the autumn-winter period. According to the schedule approved by the system operator, 5 power units, 31 boilers, 22 turbines, 3 power units, 28 boilers and 22 turbines have been repaired at power plants," Nogayev noted.

Repairs at these power plants, according to the minister, will not affect the timely start of the heating season this year.

The backlog in repairs is mainly due to delays in the supply of spare parts from abroad during quarantine, as well as restrictions on the entry of repair specialists from other countries to the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The total length of power lines is 25,828 km. It is planned to repair 439 high-voltage substations.

To date, 25,152 km of power lines and 428 substations have been repaired, which is in line with the annual plan. That's 97 percent. It is planned to complete the repair of power transmission lines in accordance with the approved schedules.

According to data from local executive bodies, 457 district heating boilers were repaired in preparation for the heating season, 1,132 out of 1,149. This is 98.5% of the annual plan.

Work continues on replenishing supplies with the necessary fuel at power plants. Coal reserves in energy storage facilities amount to 4.5 million tons, which is 7% more than last year, and fuel oil reserves — 104 thousand tons, which is 3% more than last year.

The fuel warehouses of the district heating system store 1 million 41 thousand tons of coal, 35.5 thousand tons of fuel oil, which corresponds to the approved standards.

In September 2020, the Ministry of Energy, in accordance with the requests of local executive bodies, approved a schedule for the supply of 237 thousand tons of fuel oil to social and industrial facilities and institutions in the autumn-winter period of 2020-2021. At the same time, the price of social fuel oil offered for the heating period at the refinery will be at the level of 58,000 tenge, taking into account the value added tax per 1 ton.

“An important issue on the agenda today is the accounts payable of energy companies for fuel. As of Sep. 28, 2020, the debt of power generating organizations to KazTransGas-Aimak JSC is 4 billion 600 million tenge, to the company Bogatyr-Komir — 3 billion 562 million tenge," Nogayev noted.

An analysis of the preparation for the heating season revealed a number of regions that require special attention in terms of preparation for the heating season. For example, the technical condition of the electrical networks of the regional power grid company BatysEnergo. Problems with the financing of the enterprise do not allow carrying out a full-fledged repair, modernization and reconstruction of electrical networks of the West Kazakhstan region. The lines are worn out. The company that has taken over the management of the power grid does not fulfill its obligations at the proper level, the minister said.

The Ministry of Energy receives many complaints from the population about the activities of the ShetEnergo company, which provides electricity and distribution to consumers in the Shet district of the Karaganda region. According to the results of the inspection of ShetEnergo LLC, violations of the requirements of regulatory documents in the field of electric power industry in terms of the operation of electrical networks and their technical condition were revealed. In addition, the company does not comply with the legal requirements for energy companies. In this regard, the inspection materials were sent to the Office of the Committee for the Regulation of Natural Monopolies of the Ministry of National Economy in the Karaganda region and the prosecutor's office of the Karaganda region for taking measures.

Over the past few years, due to the unsatisfactory technical condition, the boilers of the 2nd CHPP of ArcelorMittal Temirtau JSC were often shut down, which disrupted the heat supply schedule for the population of Temirtau.

In the last heating season, 17 cases of non-compliance with the temperature regime were registered at this 2nd CHPP.

The analysis of the operating map of the heat supply system during the heating season of the city of Nur-Sultan for 2020-2021 was carried out. The results of the analysis show that the boiler unit No. 8 and turbine No. 6 of the 2nd CHPP, which are scheduled to be commissioned in December 2020 to cover the shortage of thermal energy, must be commissioned just in time. Otherwise, there may be a shortage of thermal energy.

In this regard, the akimat of the city of Nur-Sultan needs to speed up the commissioning of the 1st start-up complex of the 1st and 2nd CHPPs in order to ensure reliable and uninterrupted power supply to consumers.

In the Turkistan region, Kentauservice should pay attention to financing the repair of the Kentau TPP. It was planned to allocate 1 billion 844 million tenge for the repair of the center, of which only 479 million tenge has been allocated so far, which is only 26% of the funds needed for repairs.

The current heating season began in the city of Nur-Sultan on Sep. 22, Akmola and West Kazakhstan regions — Sep. 21, Pavlodar — Sep. 16, North Kazakhstan — Sep. 18, East Kazakhstan and Kostanay — Sep. 25, Karaganda — Sep. 28. From Oct. 1, 2020, it is planned to launch the heating season in Aktobe and Atyrau regions.

In the southern regions of the country, the heating season is scheduled to begin on Oct. 15.

Nurlan Nogayev noted that in accordance with the decision of the interdepartmental commission, the Ministry of Energy submitted to the local executive bodies a proposal to start the heating season early due to coronavirus infection.

As of Sep. 28, 2020, 136 out of 293 energy companies received materials, which need to issue passports of readiness for work in the autumn-winter period.

Based on the results of the commission's work, 67 energy companies received readiness certificates, 69 materials are under consideration. Today is the last day for accepting applications for obtaining passports.

A similar situation, according to the minister, arises due to the fact that there is a low level of administrative fines for such violations — the lack of a passport of readiness. Energy companies believe that it is easier and more convenient to pay a fine than to spend time and money preparing for work in the autumn-winter period.

For example, as Nogayev noted, violation of the deadline for obtaining a passport of readiness for work in autumn-winter conditions by power generating and power transmission organizations entails the imposition of a fine on small business — fifty, medium — one hundred and fifty, large — three hundred monthly calculation indices.

In this regard, it is necessary to work out the issue of strengthening administrative responsibility for non-receipt of passports by energy companies for the autumn-winter period.

In general, for the successful passage of the autumn-winter period in 2020-2021, according to the minister, it is necessary to ensure: ​

  1. Full implementation of all repair work at power plants, power lines;
  2. Cancelling debts to fuel suppliers;
  3. Taking measures to eliminate accounts receivable from consumers of utilities to suppliers;
  4. Ensuring timely connection to the heat supply system of educational, healthcare, life support, social and cultural facilities of settlements;
  5. Provision of housing and public utilities and healthcare facilities with autonomous backup power sources;
  6. Ensuring stable supplies of coal and fuel oil to power plants, boiler houses and the needs of the population.

Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Beibut Atamkulov reported on the preparation of housing and communal services directly for the heating season.

According to the minister, in order to ensure high-quality and timely preparation of housing and communal services for the heating season, the Ministry, together with local executive bodies, approved the Work Plan for 2020-2021, according to which the akimats of the regions, Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent cities are tasked:

  • by Sep. 1, 2020, to ensure 100% readiness of educational facilities;
  • by Oct. 15, 2020, to complete the preparation of all public utilities, social services, residential buildings and provide all autonomous heat sources with a standard fuel supply.

For the current period, 11,158 educational objects have been prepared for the heating season, this is 99.6%.

Regarding the readiness of educational facilities, low rates are noted in the West Kazakhstan (95.2%) region.

99.2% of healthcare facilities have been prepared for the heating season, which is 5,963 facilities.

Compared to other regions, low readiness of objects is observed in 2 regions, this is West Kazakhstan (90.7%) region and Shymkent (93.6%).

Of the 47,653 residential buildings planned for repair, 46 561 or 97% have been prepared.

Low rates of readiness for residential facilities are observed in 3 regions: West Kazakhstan (61.7%), East Kazakhstan (94.3%) regions and in the city of Shymkent (92.1%).

Regarding the preparation of heat sources — 10,662 boiler houses were prepared in the regions for the heating season, this is 98.6%.

Preparatory work is underway for the remaining 143 autonomous boiler houses. A slow pace of work is noted in the West Kazakhstan region.

For the preparation of heating networks — out of the planned 5,038 km for the current period, 5,024 km of heating networks or 99.1% have been repaired.

Low availability of heating networks was recorded in the West Kazakhstan (73.1%) region.

As Atamkulov noted, akimats need to speed up the timely preparation of engineering infrastructure, social facilities and housing for the heating season, especially for health care facilities and housing.

Regarding the preparation of water supply and sewerage networks, the minister noted that of the planned 14,213 km for the current period, 14,089 km of water supply networks, or 99.1%, have been repaired. Lagging behind the plan is observed in the Turkistan and West Kazakhstan regions.

The demand for fuel for autonomous boiler houses in the coming heating season is 1,237 thousand tons of coal and 214 thousand tons of fuel oil.

To date, 1,139 thousand tons of coal (92%) and 144 thousand tons of fuel oil (67%) have been procured. A low percentage of fuel oil purchases for autonomous boiler houses is observed in Akmola — 2.3% and Zhambyl — 7.8% regions. It is necessary to take urgent measures for the timely purchase and delivery of fuel for autonomous boiler houses.

With regard to the production and shipment of coal, as the minister noted, coal mining companies produced 69 million tons of coal (excluding coal concentrate) in 8 months of 2020, which corresponds to the same period last year.

Coal exports amounted to about 18.5 million tons.

According to the formed Plan, the demand for coal products for municipal needs and the population for the period 2020-2021 is about 10 million tons, of which about 2.8 million tons for the municipal and household sector, 7.2 million tons for the population.

As of Sep. 28, 2020, the provision of coal reserves in relation to the general plan for the utilities sector is 76%, for the population — 65%.

“Coal reserves have been accumulated in all regions and there is no shortage. The regions are supplying coal according to the schedule,” Atamkulov informed.

In preparation for the heating season, from May 1 to the present day, 22 million tons of coal were transported by rail, which is 0.4% more than the level of 2019.

The minister also drew attention to the growth of debt for public services.

Today, the accounts receivable of consumers is 17 billion tenge. For the current year alone, the debt increased by 3.4 billion tenge. Growth is noted in 5 regions. These are in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent, Mangystau and Kyzylorda regions.

“This affects the quality and timely delivery of services by monopolists. In general, preparation for the heating season is being carried out in accordance with the approved plans and is under constant control,” Atamkulov stressed.

The minister noted that today akimats need to:

  • by Oct. 1, 2020, complete the preparation of all facilities and provide all autonomous heat sources with a standard fuel supply;
  • to step up work and take measures to reduce accounts receivable and prevent the growth of current debt for utilities;
  • actively interact with coal suppliers in the regions in order to eliminate social tension among the population;
  • To monitor the supply of coal for household needs and the population on an ongoing basis.

Stay updated about the events of the Prime Minister and the Government of Kazakhstan - subscribe to the official Telegram channel

Subscribe