Krasnogorsk Dam Project on Irtysh River Approved Amid Contractor Bankruptcy
The first phase of the Krasnogorsk hydroelectric dam project on the Irtysh River has received a positive assessment from the Russian state expert review board. The approval was recorded in the unified state register on May 13. The project documentation underwent a year of revisions – the previous iteration was rejected in May 2025. Six specialized organizations from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, and Omsk collaborated on the necessary corrections.
The approval of these documents permits the resumption of work at the site, which is designed to address the shallowing of the Irtysh River in the Omsk region. Construction had been effectively frozen since March 2026. During this period, only essential dewatering personnel remained on site, while the rest of the workforce was placed on leave. The construction schedule will now be updated – a requirement previously discussed by the head of the Federal Agency for Water Resources Dmitry Kirillov and Omsk region Governor Vitaly Khotsenko.
Construction of the hydroelectric facility originally began in 2011 under the Omsk-based enterprise Mostovik, but operations ceased three years later. Work resumed in 2022 following the signing of a contract with the Moscow-based company MezhRegionStroy. The initial budget of 4.6 billion rubles increased to 5.3 billion rubles by 2024. As of last summer, the facility was estimated to be 45 percent complete. The target date for finishing the first phase was originally set for the autumn of 2025, but the deadline has now been postponed to November 1, 2026. The regional Directorate of the Customer for the Construction of Transport Facilities and Hydrotechnical Structures serves as the project commissioner.
Future progress on the project faces challenges due to the general contractor’s financial difficulties. In early April 2026, a court initiated bankruptcy proceedings against MezhRegionStroy. This legal action followed multiple complaints from construction workers regarding unpaid wages. While outstanding wage debts were settled late last year following intervention by the prosecutor’s office, payment delays resumed in the spring. These financial issues have emerged despite the company’s stable official financial reports – the contractor’s revenue for 2024 exceeded 16 billion rubles, yielding a profit of 405 million rubles.
