Two weeks to save: Tomsk mayor acknowledges garbage collapse after tough demands from the Ministry of Natural Resources
Tomsk regional authorities have officially acknowledged the critical situation with overcrowded container yards in the regional capital. The emergency response came immediately after the federal agency ordered the region to eliminate all violations as soon as possible.
24/7 monitoring under personal responsibility
Tomsk Mayor Dmitry Makhinya has finally publicly acknowledged that overcrowded container sites have become "one of the city's main problems." The head of the city administration subsequently reported that municipal services are urgently transitioning to a fundamentally new monitoring system. All complaints and requests from Tomsk residents will now be monitored 24/7, promptly recorded, and forwarded to the appropriate authorities.
Therefore, city officials are attempting to distribute responsibilities among agencies. According to the mayor, in cases where regional waste collection is not being carried out, authorities will ensure immediate cleanup. If waste accumulates directly near bins, officials plan to investigate the causes individually and have management companies or district administrations remove the dumpsters.
"I instructed my first deputy, Vladimir Radul, to handle this issue personally."
Remarkably, the scales fell from the Tomsk mayor's eyes just as Moscow officially gave the regions just two weeks to clean up their waste management. During this strict deadline, the Ministry of Natural Resources required the "worst-producing" Russian regions to completely revise their contracts with operators and appoint individuals personally responsible for overseeing the sites.
"The landfill will soon be on the roadway": Tomsk residents don't believe the promises
However, despite the leadership's bravura statements, the reality on the city streets has yet to change. Immediately after Dmitry Makhini's official post, Tomsk residents began posting fresh photos of overflowing trash bins from various districts in the comments.
"I'm helping you with a systematic approach. The dump will soon be on the roadway, and everything is also flying into the yard."
Consequently, public trust in officials' promises remains extremely low. Residents rightly point out that while the authorities are implementing "new control schemes," household waste continues to be carried by the wind and litter their surrounding areas.
Context: Garbage truck seizure and subcontractor bankruptcy
NeMoskva previously reported in detail on the underlying causes of the region's utilities crisis. Specifically, in Tomsk, bailiffs seized garbage trucks belonging to TREK, a key subcontractor for the city administration, due to a 12 million ruble debt.
The company has owed the state this large sum since 2023 as unpaid compensation for its negative environmental impact. As a result, this spring, the tax service formally filed a lawsuit to declare TREK bankrupt and forcibly collect over 60,5 million rubles from the company. It was this protracted financial and organizational dispute that left the city effectively without sufficient specialized equipment for timely cleanup.
