MOSCOW. Sept 22 (Interfax-AVN) - About 30,000 professional servicemen of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) need improvement of their housing conditions, a competent source in the State Duma lower house of parliament told Interfax-Military News Agency on Monday.
The data is contained in reference materials that State Duma members obtained for working on the draft budget for 2004, the source said.
Over 11,500 of the above-mentioned 30,000 servicemen do not have housing for permanent residence, and over 18,000 servicemen have less housing space than they are entitled to.
The draft budget for 2004 allocates money for procuring 410 apartments, including 100 service apartments, the source said. At the same time, the number of servicemen who need improvement of their housing conditions increases by an average of 2,000 annually.
Proceeding from planned budget allocations for housing construction and procurement, the number of FSB personnel who need better housing conditions will have reached 31,500 servicemen by the end of 2004, the source said.
The funds that are likely to be allocated to the FSB for housing construction and procurement in 2004 amount to about seven percent of the funding that is supposed to be allocated in line with a 2001 decision of the Russian Security Council, the source stressed.