The Russian-Hungarian Ural Water Company (UVK), which previously announced its intention to implement multibillion-dollar water supply and sanitation projects, may leave the regional market. The company received a major lawsuit from Vodokanal of the Sverdlovsk Region due to the lack of a guarantee for the contracts implemented. At the same time, she herself is faced with financial problems: competitors are pushing her away from new large contracts, and customers have not paid in full for previously executed customers. The largest of them is the construction of treatment facilities at the water intake station in Revda – “local authorities, two years after the launch, are in no hurry to pay in full and drag out legal proceedings.” Representatives of the customer – UMP “Vodokanal” – indicate that despite the completion of the long-term construction, a number of shortcomings on the part of “UVK” have not yet been eliminated, which leads to an increase in the cost of operating the facility and an increase in the company’s losses. However, the water, according to residents, despite the investment of more than one and a half billion in purification and an extremely high tariff, is not suitable for human consumption. The municipality needs hundreds of millions more to replace the water supply system, but the budget for this is still limited to tens of millions.
JSC “Vodokanal of the Sverdlovsk Region” (100% owned by the Ministry of State Property Management of the Sverdlovsk Region. – Note ed.) requires in the arbitration court with NJSC “Ural Water Company” (UVK) 124.7 million rubles in the form of a fine for non-provided financial guarantees. UVK was involved as a contractor in the construction of treatment facilities in Verkhniye Sergi for 348 million rubles and a treatment system at a water intake station in Revda worth 1.6 billion rubles.
After their completion, the company has not yet received new large contracts, and in 2022 it reduced its revenue by 76% to 38.3 million rubles. In February 2023, the prosecutor’s office was forced to intervene in its activities due to non-payment of salary debts of 11.5 million rubles.
UVK itself, which presented itself as a Russian-Hungarian enterprise, previously announced its intention to implement large-scale water treatment projects in Nizhny Tagil, and also applied for participation in a tender to select a contractor for the construction of treatment facilities in Aramil with a starting bid price of 1.7 billion rubles. However, the contract was not received. JSC “Sinara-Development” was recognized as the winner of the auction, having reduced the price by 1%.
In court, UVK tried to challenge the results of the competition, but in the process of considering the claim, it abandoned the requirements. At UVK itself, employees do not comment on the situation, referring to internal documents on non-disclosure of information about the company’s activities.
One of the main sources of financial resources for the Russian-Hungarian partnership is probably the repayment of accounts receivable, which amounted to 115 million rubles in 2022. Since 2021, UVK has recovered more than 50 million rubles from JSC Vodokanal of the Sverdlovsk Region.
In turn, the general contractor for the construction of wastewater treatment facilities in Revda, according to his representatives, turned the claims within the framework of the recourse to UMP Vodokanal, which was the customer of the construction. Despite the signed acts of completed work, the activities of the general contractor and UVK were not satisfied with the municipalities.
“The work was carried out by UVK. A filter press was not made, which is why we have to not press the waste, but pour it into the sewer and incur additional costs. Hungarian equipment is still working properly, but in case of malfunctions, the question of finding and pricing components will arise, ”employees of the Revdinsky Vodokanal shared with the publication.
The municipal enterprise believed that the total cost of construction of treatment facilities should not exceed 1.436 billion rubles, and the court of first instance agreed with this position. However, in the appeal, Vodokanal of the Sverdlovsk Region indicated a different amount and collected 143 million rubles of the principal debt and 9 million rubles of remuneration. Cassation later approved this decision, although the regional water utility never received funds, and in 2023 the company demanded another 11 million rubles as part of the indexation of the amount of penalties. The court granted the claim, only slightly reducing the amount.
The property of the Revdinsky Vodokanal was arrested, however, the enterprise continues its work. As the employees share, the administration of Revda is negotiating the repayment of the debt. The regional water utility hopes to end the litigation and pay off the debt by the end of the year, but the municipal budget, according to the deputies of the City Duma, does not provide for such funds.
Moreover, today at a meeting of the profile commission of the City Duma, representatives of the mayor’s office reported on the full payment for the services of Vodokanal of the Sverdlovsk Region last year. Pravda UrFO sent a request to the mayor’s office of the municipality asking for comment on the situation, but at the time of publication there was no response to it.
Despite large investments in the water treatment system, residents continue to complain about the poor quality of drinking water in Revda, largely due to the condition of the water supply pipes. The total depreciation of the system, according to Vodokanal, is about 73% – out of 120 km of networks, 15 km have been replaced in recent years. In 2023-2024, it is planned to replace another 5 km, for which 35 million rubles have been allocated as part of the housing and communal services modernization program.
“At certain times of the year, tap water comes out dark and smells bad. You can’t drink it. At the same time, we have one of the highest tariffs for cold water supply – 44.2 rubles. The sewage treatment plants themselves at the water intake were originally calculated for the needs of Revda and Pervouralsk. They have a capacity of 45 thousand cubic meters. m, and Revda consumes only 15 thousand cubic meters. m. It was planned to build a main water conduit to Pervouralsk, but they are not interested in its appearance there, ”Veniamin Tarov, deputy of the Revda Duma, shared his opinion.
With the launch of the treatment facilities, UMP Vodokanal increased significantly. So, if the revenue over the past three years remained at the level of 200 million rubles, then the cost of services increased from 281 to 373 million rubles. Even with a decrease in receivables from 595 to 71 million rubles, the company received a net loss of 178 million rubles. And so far no options for solving the problem of Vodokanal have been offered in response to the deputies’ questions.
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NJSC Ural Water Company was established on March 25, 2016. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the founder was the Water of Eurasia Ecological Fund, whose executive director from July 2014 to March 2019 was Andrey Pipko. From March to September 2016, he was listed as the general director of the Ural Water Company. According to the Kontur.Focus system, since 2010 Andrey Pipko has been head of JSC Vodokanal of the Sverdlovsk Region.
In September 2016, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the owners of the Ural Water Company changed. However, the shareholders and the blocks of shares assigned to them are not disclosed. On its website, UVK indicates that it is a Russian-Hungarian joint venture, and its shareholders are Hungarian Eurovoda LLC and the Eurasian Water Environmental Fund.
Revenue of UVK for 2022 amounted to 38.3 million rubles, net profit – 8.6 million rubles.