Economy-class housing should not cost more than 30,000 roubles per square metre, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes.
Last Friday, Mr Putin discussed the implementation of national projects with ministers and public leaders. He said, among other things, that the government's credibility directly depends on how it fulfils its promises.
The presidium of the presidential council on the implementation of priority national projects and demographic policy met at the Rus health resort in downtown Sochi. The participants in the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister discussed the problems of disabled children. Next year, their monthly allowance will be increased by 600 roubles, to nearly 6,700 roubles.
In all, 70 billion roubles have been allocated this year for the support of orphaned and disabled children, Mr Putin said. This money has allowed the government to launch a programme of remote education. "The programme must give them [the children] an opportunity to receive an education based on the latest education standards, to help them fully integrate into society and feel part of it, to make a career when they grown up, and to earn a decent living," he continued. He added that the remote education system will cover all disabled children by 2012 (at present, it reaches 2,500 children). Meanwhile, it has been revealed that some 400 children's homes and boarding schools have been closed and converted for other purposes. Andrei Fursenko, Minister of Education and Science, said that there was no reason to fear these figures and emphasised that "we will not close a children's home if there is just one child who needs to be placed into a family. There is no campaign to close children's homes."
However, there is another, even more important problem, that of cruelty towards children, especially towards adopted children. According to Vladimir Putin, cruelty towards children, especially towards orphans, is a frequent occurrence in Russia; "there are outrageous, abominable incidents at boarding schools and children's homes, and regrettably, even in foster families. Therefore, people who want to adopt a child will receive mandatory training. "It is not simply a matter of placing a child somewhere, but of giving him a real family and protecting the child's right to a decent life," the Prime Minister said. Andrei Fursenko cited some new figures: about 115,000 orphans were placed in foster care in 2008.
The Prime Minister also proposed conducting a special nationwide campaign against cruelty toward children which could be promoted by the Duma parties and public organisations. The Tomsk Region's governor went even further by proposing that boarding school graduates should be provided with housing. "I believe that this is possible," the Prime Minister remarked. However, he said that providing children with housing could be started only after the completion of major national projects, in other words, after the crisis, especially considering that housing construction fell by 20% and mortgage loan activity six fold.
The state which is, according to Mr Putin, the largest housing contractor, will have to assist the sector anyway. This means that government officials will interfere in the pricing process. In early July, President Dmitry Medvedev set certain limits on the cost of economy-class housing, and this Friday Vladimir Putin expressed a similar opinion.
"The cost of economy-class housing should not exceed 30,000 roubles per square metre, and this can and must be achieved without compromising on quality and comfort," the Prime Minister said adding that at least 40% of Russians would be able to afford such apartments.
Referring to yet another national project, the development of agro-business, Mr Putin said that it was necessary to start grain market intervention. Alexei Kudrin, Finance Minister, said Friday that the government would reduce allocations for this purpose. Allocations for mineral fertiliser purchases will also be cut. "Systemic changes, which are under way in education and healthcare, are aimed at enhancing the quality of services and stimulating the best specialists," Vladimir Putin said.
Regarding national demographics, the problem of the child mortality rate is still pressing. However, other indicators cited by Tatyana Golikova, Minister of Healthcare and Social Development, inspired officials with optimism. The birthrate in Russia increased by 4.7% in the first half of the year, while the death rate decreased 3.7%; the natural population decrease fell by 30% in the reporting period.
Referring to national projects, Mr Putin said that 450 billion roubles were allocated in 2009 to finance national priorities. "This is a very big sum since we have not economised on them [the priorities]." Nevertheless, the Prime Minister talked about new "money injections."
Thus, twelve billion roubles from budget reserves will be used to compensate for shortfalls in territorial medical insurance fund income, another 2.2 billion roubles, for high-tech medical assistance, and yet another 2.3 billion roubles, to provide disabled persons with special rehabilitation equipment.
"You know, we have had long disputes on whether it is worthwhile to launch new activities within the national projects under these financial conditions. Still, I think we have done the right thing: some things cannot be put aside," Mr Putin said. He added that national priorities will include the formation of skills for a healthy way of life, remote education for disabled children, improved cancer treatment and measures to combat tuberculosis.
"If we have said something, we must fulfill our promises, because the government's credibility depends on it," the Prime Minister said.
However, in the next several years, the government's plans must be dovetailed with the macroeconomic indicators. At a meeting with the Finance Minister and the speakers of the two houses of parliament, Mr Putin repeated that a 7.5% budget deficit was the ceiling. Therefore, if the parliamentarians are tempted to finance something outside the government's list, they will have to redistribute revenues. The budget deficit should not be inflated for any reason, the Prime Minister emphasised. Sergei Mironov, head of the Federation Council, also admitted the harsh reality of the situation. "Russians will have to cut the coat according to the cloth," he said. By September 3, the government and the two houses of parliament will complete the so-called "zero reading" of the draft budget for 2010-2012.
Pierre Sidibe