Experts admitted that it is unrealistic to replace all outdated elevators by 2025

On February 1, Russia celebrates Elevator Day for the 75th time. A holiday is a holiday, but there are problems in this area, and very serious ones. According to State Duma deputy Sergei Kolunov, who was contacted by MK, by February 15, 2025, 124 thousand outdated elevators out of 540 thousand working in the country need to be replaced. Many government officials admit that this task is unrealistic.

According to Sergei Kolunov, today “Russian elevator factories fully meet modern requirements and fully satisfy the needs of the domestic market.”

– Many of our factories have already mastered and are preparing for mass production of elevators at a speed of 2.5 meters per second, and plans for the coming years include the production of elevators at a speed of 4 meters per second. Since the beginning of 2023, the production of lifting equipment in Russia has increased by 10%, and this confirms: the capacity of domestic factories is enough to cover the need for both commercial real estate and capital repair funds.

– What difficulties exist in this industry?

– Every fourth elevator in our country needs to be replaced. Of the 540 thousand elevators operating in Russia, 124 thousand (that is, with a service life of more than 25 years) must be replaced by February 15, 2025. The rate of replacement is clearly insufficient – about 15 thousand units per year – and threatens to default. In such a situation, it is necessary to support regional capital repair funds and domestic manufacturing plants. We are already working on this. What are the difficulties? For example, now finished products imported into the Russian Federation from abroad are either duty-free or subject to a 5% duty, while the duty on components for elevators is about 10-15%. That is, it is more profitable for Russian factories to buy a ready-made winch in China than to produce their own. And even though SLZ (Serpukhov Elevator Plant) replaced 12 of the 14 winch components with domestic components, its production is still more expensive than buying from abroad.

As the deputy emphasized, in order to reduce the dependence of our manufacturers on imports, it is necessary to resolve the issue of customs duties on components and finished products, as well as introduce additional measures of state support for manufacturers of unique products.

Meanwhile, on January 24, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Communal Services Svetlana Razvorotneva said that it is unrealistic to replace all elevators with a service life of over 25 years by February 2025. “It’s obvious that we won’t meet these demands,” she admitted. – The only way to replace elevators is to include them in a major overhaul. But in short-term programs at least 40 thousand elevators are not included. Most likely, a decision will be made to extend this period, but the elevators will not become any younger. They will simply be decommissioned by Rostekhnadzor. I think that more and more houses in our country will be left without elevators in the near future.” At the same time, she noted that “we have excess capacity, they could produce 30% more than now, there is simply no sales. But there is no sales, because contributions for major repairs are low in the regions.”

The leader of the all-Russian movement “People’s Housing Inspector” Sergei Krekov, in turn, confirmed that the problem with elevators is that “the amount of funds collected for major repairs is catastrophically small, and it is impossible to replace them at their expense.” According to him, this problem arose “largely due to the thoughtless spending of funds received in the form of targeted contributions from citizens for the overhaul of their apartment buildings.” Instead of overhauling elevators and other complex engineering, regional operators of capital repair funds began mass painting the entrances and facades of houses, leaving the crumbling engineering infrastructure for later.

He believes that in the current situation, the authorities “will first begin to massively extend the service life of elevators, based on their technical condition, and then, as has become customary, instead of solving a problem for which there are no funds in the budget, its solution will be placed on the shoulders of citizens “

In other words, the current situation in the industry means that emergency situations with elevators will occur more often. Here is just one example: on January 17 in Yekaterinburg, in a nine-story building, residents reported an “elevator falling” from the height of the 7th floor, along with a woman in it. Later, official clarifications appeared that “in reality, the elevator was stuck between the 8th and 7th floors, “sat on its wedges.” The victim is suspected of suffering injuries from the sudden stop of the cabin.” A criminal case was initiated under the article “Performance of work or provision of services that do not meet the requirements for the safety of life or health of consumers.”

But an employee of a company that installs and maintains elevator equipment in Moscow and the Moscow Region reassured us that it is, in principle, impossible to crash on an elevator.

“We are faced with the following problem: users do not understand that an elevator is complex equipment and that it cannot help but break down,” he shared with MK. “Moreover, if earlier, when an elevator got stuck, people called the dispatcher, and the electrician freed the passengers, now they call the Ministry of Emergency Situations and shout: “We’ve lost it, the elevator has fallen!” People do not know the structure of elevators and do not understand that the cabins do not fall, but can only get stuck, which means that during the trip either a safety device was activated or a malfunction occurred due to many reasons, including a power failure. But people begin to panic, and we have to reassure everyone that there cannot be a “liftfall.”

The elevator has at least three ropes, one withstanding a minimum of 16 tons. If even one rope breaks, the safety circuit is activated and the elevator stops. That is, the “slack rope switch” will operate to stop the elevator. But such cases are also very rare. And nothing will happen to the passengers, they will just get stuck in the elevator. It’s hard to imagine what would have to happen for all the ropes to break. Maybe sabotage, like in American films. Even if everything breaks off, the catchers will work. This is a safety device that is usually installed under the car and is designed to stop and hold it if the elevator exceeds its rated speed.

– But if the elevator “sits on wedges”, as in Yekaterinburg, then you can also get injured?

– Yes, there may be an injury, but not very serious, and it is unlikely that a person will be hospitalized after such an injury. It’s an abrupt stop of the elevator, that’s all.

The elevator operator noted another problem: the lack of specialists. “Many have left, people cannot be found, our company is constantly looking for employees. There are very few people who go into this field. Huge responsibility, and at the same time little pay.”