24 March 2004 12:54
Russian defence minister confident of solving accommodation problem
Rzhev, 24 March: It will take the Russian Defence Ministry four to five years to fully solve the issue of providing
servicemen with accommodation if housing construction continues at its present pace (25,000 flats a year) and the new
savings and mortgage system works properly, Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov told journalists in Rzhev today. He is on a
working visit to troops in the Moscow Military District.
"Within no more than a month", the Defence Ministry, Finance Ministry and Economic Development Ministry are
to submit a draft law on the savings and mortgage system to the government, the minister said. The draft was presented
on 23 March to a Defence Ministry conference, in which President Vladimir Putin and members of the government took
part.
Ivanov stressed that all other obligations to servicemen that had been assumed by the state and the Defence Ministry
would be met in parallel with the new savings and mortgage system. "Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his full
backing yesterday to this way of looking at the issue," Ivanov said. He stressed that the Defence Ministry would be
developing its stock of official accommodation at the same time. "Even when an officer has a mortgage and a flat,
he must still move around the country and be provided with quarters," the minister said. He recalled that at
present the families of around 160,000 officers and warrant officers are either without flats or are in need of improved
living conditions.
The savings and mortgage system will only cover new officers and contract servicemen who are beginning their careers
in Russia's armed forces. Serving officers, however, will receive accommodation within the system that is currently
operating, the minister explained.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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