The government will assist regions that are building a lot of high-quality housing.
On Monday, Vladimir Putin inspected the work at the ZhBI-6 concrete plant, which had undergone large-scale renovation. The prime minister examined the entire production cycle of the upgraded line of concrete slabs production, from layout to the pouring of concrete. The new equipment creates perfectly smooth and seamless slabs, which help retain heat in homes. For comparison, they showed Putin a slab manufactured by older equipment, which was not comparable.
After the tour, the prime minister shared his impressions at a meeting on the development of the building materials industry.
"The upgraded line is of an entirely different quality. I also lived in a prefab building in St Petersburg, in what was called a 'ship.' But this is completely different. Everything is seamless here, tenants will not need to seal anything up themselves to keep the wind from creeping into their flats. Everything is done intelligently, effectively, and using modern technology," said the prime minister in praise, lamenting that there are so far only a few facilities like that in Russia. "Without this basic industry we will be unable to address the problems of housing construction or infrastructure development," the prime minister emphasised. "We need to radically change our approach to affordable housing."
The construction industry is also important socially, said Putin, as it employs 5.5 million people.
The prime minister pointed out that building materials account for between 30% and 40% of housing prime costs. This is why it is important to find an adequate ratio of price to quality, to reduce costs and to produce high-tech materials. To accomplish this requires a complete retooling of the industry. Putin instructed each regional government to draft comprehensive development plans for the construction sector, drawing on the experience of Moscow, the Moscow Region, St Petersburg, the Leningrad Region, Rostov-on-Don and Samara.
"We have provided for additional incentives for regions that are actively involved in housing construction," Putin said. "About 40 regions will receive support this year."
The prime minister also promised to reduce, or even abolish import duties on building equipment not currently produced in Russia.
"We are currently buying a lot of equipment, and we will buy even more," he said. But in the future, he promised, there will be economic conditions for the relocation of production facilities to Russia.
Putin also ordered a complete update of national standards in construction and building materials production by mid 2012.
Larisa Kaftan
