Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday put forth a finalized version of the government's plan for improving the country's dilapidated housing stock and making quality apartments more accessible.
The measure is designed to fulfill a decree on housing issued by President Vladimir Putin on May 7, his first day in office.
Titled "Providing Accessible and Comfortable Housing and Building Management," it lays out a slew of goals ranging from increasing the level of the mortgage lending to developing "noncommercial housing stock" to cleaning up drinking water.
The overarching goals "are to increase the population's access to housing," including high-quality housing, which the government is obligated to provide to special groups such as young families, and "to increase the quality and safety of provided housing and utilities," according to the government's? .
All the goals are supposed to be addressed during a three-stage timeline that begins next year and ends in 2020. But only two goals listed in Medvedev's version include metrics for evaluating success.
Those are reduction of the average cost of constructing a square meter of new housing by 20 percent by 2018, using the deflation-indexed figure for this year as a yardstick; and increasing the annual number of mortgages to 868,000 by 2020.
The growth of noncommercial housing construction is highlighted several times in the plan. Currently, much of the nation's housing is built by for-profit developers.
Medvedev's plan also calls for a lowering of mortgage rates and government assistance for housing loans.
Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev presented an earlier version of the housing strategy at a Cabinet meeting with Medvedev on Nov. 15. Those proposals included "the maximum number of directives" from Putin's May 7 edict, he said at the meeting, according to a transcript on? .
Many? ? and metrics in Slyunyayev's presentation were absent from Monday's version.
Related articles:
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.