Russian Regional Development Minister Vladimir Yakovlev
Photo: Dmitry Dukhanin
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Call to Extend a National Project
The Ministry of Regional Development intends to introduce a plan called “Long-Term Strategy for Mass Construction of Housing” to the government in September. The plan suggests a course of action after the completion of the national project for accessible housing. It foresees every Russian family owning its own apartment by 2025 and entails the construction of an additional 2 billion cu. m. of housing. Builders call the plan unrealizable.
The strategy identifies five income categories of citizens. It suggests limiting the term of social loans to five years in order to encourage people to become the owners of their housing faster. Those who are unable to get mortgages are offered tax breaks on the cost of renting housing. Subsidies ad tax benefits for mortgage recipients are offered only for economy-class housing after 2010.
A federal housing agency is to be set up between 2008 and 2010 that would accumulate 55 billion rubles of federal budget money to use for refinancing credit for municipalities, builders, developers and engineering firms. The new agency would serve the same purpose for builders as the Agency for Mortgage Housing Crediting does for the public. A new licensing agency would ensure the energy efficiency of the new housing.
Construction companies are skeptical of the proposal. Deputy general director of Trest 1991 Tatyana Palchikova called the plan unrealizable. Naming a lack of construction equipment as one reason for that. Novaya Ploshchad's Evgeny Fetisov also mentioned a shortage of personnel for construction on that scale.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 25, 2007
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