APARTMENT LACK FOR MILITARY MEN IS THE PROBLEM OF THE YEAR 2006

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The problem of housing is discussed in the article. Minister of Defense Sergey Ivanov speaks about financing. Different ways are suggested. The opportunity of housing certificates can be one of the problems solutions.

Among the social problems named by the head of Military Department Sergey Ivanov was the problem of housing. About 160,000 military families have a need for accommodation. 80,000 of them need permanent apartments, about 50,000 temporary ones and 30,000 military people want to have better housing conditions.

Unfortunately, financial support can’t cover the demand of apartments for the present moment. Speaking on the air on “RTR” channel Sergey Ivanov stated that the housing problem is “a very acute one”. The Minister supposes, “It can’t be solved in a year”.

“It was possible to do only one thing in the past two years: to stop the quantity growth of officers and ensigns who don’t have apartments and to begin cutting off the number of them, about 1,000 a year. If we prolong moving at such a pace, 1,000 officers a year, we will need at least 80 years to solve the problem. It won’t do”, remarked Ivanov.

What are the actions of authorities to cut off the number of officers who don’t have accommodation? As informs Russian Federation Ministry of Defense, there are the following strategies to solve the problem.

The first one is strengthening of temporary housing recourses in accordance with the number of the officers serving in military units and formations staff. The second one is giving apartments to military people according to the system of accumulating hypothec. The third strategy is providing the officers with apartments without fail, that is, apartment granting at the expense of the Ministry of Defense or due to the government housing certificate.

As Minister of Defense says, by the year of 2006, housing recourses in Russian Federation Armed Forces will be broadened and the number of apartments will reach 200,000 by adding 19,000 new flats. It is planned by the Ministry of Defense to build and buy for military people about 33,600 apartments. Thus, the number of officers, not counting those who need to improve housing conditions, will be cut off to one third.

The system of hypothec can be a crucial point in solution of the problem.

As it is known, in the last quarter of 2005, a contest was held and 10 leading companies got the right to govern the recourses meant for military hypothec (a billion roubles in 2005, and even more this year).

As for housing certificates, it was decided to provide financing for 2006-2007, and supply 30 billion roubles for this purpose. As a result, military people living in the most problematic regions (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Leningrad regions and Kaliningrad) will get either an apartment or a certificate that enables them to buy a flat at the rate of 29,000 roubles per square meter. Thus, the state is determined to handle military people’s problem. However, it is not a single action, as financing can’t yet provide the necessary number of apartments. The problem is intensified by the fact that a part of money provided by the Ministry of Defense is spent on housing support for people who serve no longer. As Russian Federation Ministry of Defense suggests, it is necessary to re-lodge from cantonments people who have nothing to do with the army and provide them with accommodation in other places. But this will take money and other resources. While oil and gas prices are favorable, Russia can spent money on a solution for the housing problem. However, obviously, this situation will be a deadlock if energy supply prices fall like in the early 90s.

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