23 March 2004 15:39
Putin clarifies issue of housing for army officers
[Presenter] The Russian state is taking cardinal measures to resolve the problem of housing for the military. A
conference held at the Defence Ministry today made public a programme for savings and mortgage credits for military
officers. They are expected to get their first flats in 2008. The president and supreme commander, who attended the
conference, urged the rapporteurs to be most specific about the housing programme. Aleksandr Kolpakov has more.
[Correspondent] It's difficult to describe the event held at the Defence Ministry today as a conference. Rather,
it was a presentation of this project which comes into effect as of 1 January 2005.
On top of all the previous obligations the state made to the army, a programme for resolving cardinally the housing
problem was made public today. A savings fund will be set up by the Defence Ministry for those who sign contracts as of
next year, and servicemen will be able to use this fund for taking out mortgages as soon as they join the service,
without waiting for retirement. The State Duma is to pass a relevant draft law this May, and the system will become
operational as of 2008. It was stressed that the serviceman becomes the owner of the accommodation on the day he buys
it.
[Putin] Sergey Borisovich [Ivanov, defence minister] said that servicemen will become owners of their flats after 20
years of service. This is wrong. Servicemen will become owners of their flats straight away. As soon as he gets a flat
after three years of service, the person, the serviceman becomes its owner. But it's another matter if the
serviceman decides to quit the armed forces. In this case, he will have to pay from his own pocket the outstanding sum
which the state has not paid for him.
[Correspondent] Officers and contract servicemen will be paid R30,000 into their savings accounts annually. According
to the calculations of the Ministry of Economic Development and the Finance Ministry, this is the cost of 3 sq. m. Thus,
the basic cost of a flat will amount to R600,000-650,000. If an officer decides to buy a more spacious and
better-quality flat, he will pay from his own pocket, but only then. The president pointed to this when talking to one
of the rapporteurs, [Economic Development Minister] German Gref.
[Putin] German Oskarovich, wait a second. Please repeat the precise wording. The servicemen's private savings
will be required only if a person would like to get a bigger and better-quality flat. Whereas if the serviceman is happy
with what he is offered as standard, he does not need to use private savings for initial or subsequent payments.
[Gref] I would like to add that if a serviceman becomes owner of a flat and doesn't live in it, he can rent it
and receive income from this flat -
[Putin interrupts] I think everyone has already understood this.
[Correspondent] Throughout the conference the president was seen having a lively chat with the defence minister. It
seems Sergey Ivanov was not always happy about the supreme commander's remarks. [Passage omitted]
[NTV Mir] |
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