MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax-AVN) - Servicemen who applied for accommodation before 2005 will have new homes by the end of 2010, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in an interview with the Rossiya Channel's Vesti Nedeli program.
"The president ordered permanent accommodation of servicemen before the end of 2010. Servicemen who applied for accommodation before January 2005 are eligible for this program. I think we can do that before the year ends," he said.
The number of officers without accommodation has grown in recent years, the minister said. "We have quite a large number of resigning officers. I think the housing problem will be resolved in two years," he said.
The reformed armed forces will have three armed services - the Army, the Navy and the Air Force - and three branches - the Strategic Rocket Forces, the Space Forces and the Airborne Forces, the minister said. "Naturally, the structure will remain, we will have three armed services and three branches of the armed forces as before. In addition, the armed services and branches of the armed forces are now included in the central structure of the Defense Ministry and directly subordinated to me," Serdyukov said.