23 March 2004 14:47
Putin pushes government to settle housing problem for servicemen
[Presenter] In 2008 already every Russian officer will be able to acquire a flat on credit. The president [Vladimir
Putin] instructed the government to complete the preparation of a relevant draft law in the shortest possible time.
Vladimir Putin stated this at a meeting in the Defence Ministry. In the head of state's view, the situation which
has emerged is paradoxical - officers may count on their own flat only after they have left the army.
[Putin] People who have linked their own fate to military service have the right to count on precise and full-scale
fulfilment of obligations to them, which the state assumes under the law. In present-day conditions, I think we are
simply obliged to bring all economic mechanisms available to us into play, including savings and the mortgage system, in
order to resolve this problem.
The law on savings and the mortgage system for the provision of housing to servicemen should be geared precisely to
this end. In accordance with this law, it is proposed that for every officer who will join military service after 1
January 2005, the state will transfer a certain amount of money to acquire housing to each officer's personal
account. Using the money just after three years of service, an officer will be able to acquire a flat through a mortgage
scheme.
In essence, an officer will acquire a flat through a loan which will be paid off by the state throughout an
officer's term of service. At the same time the officer will be acquiring a property, of course.
In this regard, we have already discussed this issue with the head of government [Mikhail Fradkov] and I would like
to formulate an official instruction - to draft the relevant law in the shortest possible time so that in May this year
it is not only submitted, but work must be carried out with the State Duma deputies and they should be asked to consider
and adopt this law already during the spring session this year.
[Presenter] The president noted that obligations to those who would join the army before 1 January 2005 should also
be fulfilled.
Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov explained in detail how the savings and mortgage system would work. According to him a
personal account will be opened for every serviceman and an amount equivalent to the price of three square metres of
housing will be transferred each year.
If an officer discharges himself into the reserve after serving less than 10 years, he will lose the right to use the
means. If the period of service is between 10 and 20 years, the accumulated amount can be used to acquire a flat
independently. After 20 years of service, an officer will be able to acquire a more comfortable flat.
Another way of resolving the housing problem is a service housing fund which is planned to be established before
2015. It will have almost half a million flats.
[RTR Russia TV] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
