Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting on the provision of housing for World War II veterans and army servicemen
Vladimir Putin's opening address:
Good afternoon,
Today, we will discuss a most urgent issue - housing. This issue is topical for Russia.
Let us talk about provision of housing for the veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
As we have pledged, by May 1, 2010 all war veterans requiring better housing conditions should be provided with flats. I would like to inform you that we have decided to improve considerably the terms of granting housing.
Today, in calculating the funding, we proceed from the quota of 22 square meters per capita, whereas subsequently we will apply a higher standard - 36 square meters per capita.
A corresponding bill has already been submitted to the State Duma. I hope very much that it will be passed in the near future so that it may become effective before June 25.
Second, in terms of elaborating this law, the Government should adopt a resolution on changing the order of granting housing, and also endorse the distribution of additional budgetary funds between the regions to provide housing for war veterans according to the new, higher standards. All this work must be completed by June 30.
Third, the situation in St Petersburg is unique. There are about 10,000 war veterans who are in need of housing in the city. For the most part, they need studios, and there are not enough of them on the market.
Today, Ms Matviyenko and I visited one construction site and saw how the municipal authorities are approaching their job. In general, they are doing quite well. The problem is the lack of studios.
In this context, I would like to request that Ms Matviyenko make specific proposals on resolving this problem, and that the Ministry of Regional Development render the necessary aid to municipal authorities, including assistance for developing the communal infrastructure. It is necessary to envisage an option for financial reimbursement for a flat if veterans prefer it. This is already being done in St Petersburg.
All decisions must be made quickly - before July 1 - so that we could carry out our commitments by the announced deadlines without fail. Allow me to recall that the federal budget has allocated a total of 64.7 billion roubles for this programme, out of which 8.9 billion roubles were transferred last year, and another 55.8 billion roubles will be provided for this year. I would like to emphasize this year's increase to 55.8 billion compared with last year's 8.9 billion despite the ongoing crisis. This is enough to fully resolve the problem.
To conclude, I would like to add that after the meeting, St Petersburg's administration and the Fund for Reforming Housing and Public Utilities will sign an agreement. The Fund will grant the city an additional 3.6 billion roubles for capital repairs to blocks of flats, which will allow it to repair 1,207 buildings, including those in its historic districts. All in all, 366,000 people will have their housing conditions improved.
On the whole, the Fund's programmes are already being carried out in 79 regions of the Russian Federation. They provide for the capital repairs of about 62,000 blocks of flats, where 8.4 million of our citizens reside. In 32,300 buildings the repairs are nearing completion or have already been finished.
A total of 144,500 people will be resettled from hazardous buildings.
During this meeting, we will also discuss the housing problems of army servicemen. We remember that the goal is to provide them with permanent housing by the end of 2010, and with service housing by the end of 2011. Housing for the employees of other security agencies will come a year later, but this is a different subject and we will discuss it separately.
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St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko and the Head of the Fund for Reforming Housing and Public Utilities, Konstantin Tsitsin, signed an agreement in the presence of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, for the co-financing of regional targeted programmes for major repairs to blocks of flats and for relocating people from hazardous housing.
