Press Release, 5.02.2025

Photo by Alexei Malgavko, Kommersant

On 1 February, numerous accidents occurred on high-voltage lines in 12 districts and areas of the Novgorod Region, which led to blackouts in more than 500 settlements. More than 25,000 rural residents were left without light, heat and water. For the fifth day, more than 240 villages and almost 4,000 people have been trying to survive in extreme conditions of winter. To date, the teams of energy workers, both local and attracted for from other regions, have not been able to eliminate all the accidents. On 3 February, a high alert regime was introduced. Yabloko considers such an attitude of the authorities to the problem of citizens unacceptable. The party demands that the Governor introduce a state of emergency.

The state of emergency, unlike the “high alert” regime, assumes compensation for damages to citizens and organisations. It is significant, the activists of the Novgorod Yabloko note: heating, water supply and sewerage systems have got frozen, electrical equipment has been damaged, people have incurred high expenses for the purchase of generators and gasoline, and it is still unclear how many residents will seek help from medical institutions.

Yabloko insists on the need for an objective legal assessment of the actions of officials from the Novgorod Region government, municipal districts and areas, as well as the management of PAO Rosseti (the energy supplier), which led to the violation of the rights of thousands of people. The causes must be established and the guilty parties brought to justice.

The Novgorod Yabloko places political responsibility for the emergency situation on the Governor of the region Andrei Nikitin, who has not taken effective measures to modernise the region’s power supply systems since 2017.

A programme to improve reliability of energy networks must be immediately developed and implemented for all districts and districts of the Novgorod Region within the next two to three years. Anna Cherepanova, Chair of the Novgorod branch of Yabloko, the financing of such programme must become a priority for the federal and the regional budget so that so solve the serious problem with electricity supply in the region.