MOSCOW. March 23 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at the Tuesday meeting of Russia's military leadership, chaired by President Vladimir Putin, that 136,000 military personnel families have no housing of their own.
"Currently 136,000 military personnel families have no housing of their own, in this number 91,000 need permanent housing and 45,000 service-time housing," he said.
Added to that 28,000 families eligible for better living conditions, he went on, all in all 164,000 military personnel families need housing, or one third of all officer families. Only 63 percent of contract personnel are duly housed, and another six percent are housed but the conditions are inappropriate.
He also said that the past few years had seen decline in housing expenses for the military. Saying that in 2001 the Defense Ministry got about 29,000 apartments for budget money, while in 2004 this number declined to 18,000, he noted that the number of personnel striving for housing was stabilized at 160,000.
According to the defense minister, in the coming years the Defense Ministry plans to house all officers serving since 1998, complete service-time housing for the official strength of military units, and create a free-market mechanism for permanent housing of retired servicemen.
Ivanov said that the focus in the coming years will be at the second line, because as many as 334,000 apartments more are needed to fill the required 480,000.
The minister urged for a special state program for creating a service-time housing fund. "We have repeatedly applied to the government for such a program, but there was no positive response," he said.
According to Ivanov, the Defense Ministry together with the Economic Development and Finance Ministries are developing a mortgage system for permanent housing, because with the current system it will take decades to solve the problem.
The mortgage system, he said, implies that each year of service secures money about three square meters of an average apartment are worth at a serviceman's personal account. Leaving service before 10 years, one loses the money. In case a serviceman retires with a record of 10 to 20 years, he gets on retirement as much as there has been collected. In case a serviceman retires after 20 years in service, he is able to get housing with better comfort. Thus, the ministry wants to create incentive for long careers.
The minister also said that those who have three and more yearly accounts would have a right for a mortgage loan. If working all right, this will enable the first apartments to come as soon as in 2008, Ivanov emphasized.