The collapse of district heating systems, put in place more than half a century ago in the Soviet Union, has triggered a rush of business for Baxi, one of the oldest names in British domestic boilers.
The Derby-based company, which is backed by private equity players, expects to sell 25,000 gas-fired boilers to private householders in Russia this year - a 20% increase on 2005.
Baxi's chief executive, Mark Edwards, said: "Much of Russia is dependent on solid fuel and environmentally unfriendly power but we are helping to bring more efficient heating systems with reduced CO2 emissions. The old Soviet systems were never that efficient, with top-floor flats often suffering poor levels of heating in winter peaks. But some are disintegrating and there is little money for repair."
The community systems were based on coal, gas or oil-fired power stations producing hot water carried through huge underground pipes of the kind that kept the "sewer kids" of Bucharest warm.
But homes in Russia and other former eastern bloc homes tended to use gas for cooking. These supplies, provided by the likes of Gazprom, can be used by householders opting to put in their own boilers.
The upsurge in business comes as the home market in Britain struggles to regain momentum after new building regulations were introduced in April 2005.
Government plans to ensure UK households switch to more fuel-efficient but far more expensive condensing boilers took the market by surprise, and led to a 7% slump in demand across the industry.
Mr Edwards, whose company claims to be the market leader in Britain, has not been impressed by the move, which was aimed at reducing carbon emissions.
"The accelerated introduction of the boiler-efficiency regulations assumed that the new, more expensive products, both to purchase and to install, would not have an impact on demand. This was always an ambitious assumption and has proved not to be the case," he said.
Homeowners have balked at the 30% extra cost of installation, which spells trouble for the government in trying to reach its CO2 targets. Baxi expects a further 5% fall in the UK market this year but hopes to regain sales with the expansion of its high-efficiency products.
Baxi expects growth in Spain after buying Roca Heating last year in a £200m deal. It has also offloaded non-core businesses - such as Rawlplug fixings, Pulse electronics and Aqualiser showers - in favour of strengthening its heating division by buying companies such as SCE, now Baxi Belgium.