14:52, 04 May 2009 | GMT +5
RF govt coordinating anti-crisis measures in construction - Kozak
MOSCOW. May 4. KAZINFORM Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said in an interview published by the Vedomosti newspaper on Monday that 12,000 apartments have been bought with funds allocated for the support of the Russian construction industry, 35,000 citizens will get new housing, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

The official noted that the global financial crisis has affected the construction industry one of the first. ?The main funds for the support of the construction sector were allocated from the Fund for Assisting the Housing and Public Utilities Reform (for resettling citizens from dilapidated housing) and from the budget of the Defence Ministry (for buying apartments for military servicemen),? Kozak said. ?With these funds (about 20 billion roubles) 12,000 apartments have already been bought and over 35,000 citizens will receive new housing. It is a serious support for the builders as well ? they will be able to complete unfinished houses and fulfil obligations to citizens that investment money in the housing construction,? according to the deputy prime minister.
Millions of workers are engaged in the construction sphere, ?this sector has the largest multiplier effect for the whole economy, therefore coordination of anti-crisis measures in the government is coming to an end now,? Kozak said.
According to him, administrative procedures will be simplified, the antimonopoly regulation will be bettered, the system of control over price formation for construction materials and mechanisms of connection to utility networks will be improved.
?Speaking about money, more than 400 billion roubles (last year it was 226 billion roubles) will be allocated under various federal and regional programmes in the housing sphere alone for the construction, modernisation of the housing fund and encouragement of the demand,? the RF deputy prime minister noted.
?In 2009, we will start the implementation of the major investment projects ? Olympic Games, Student Games and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum?s summit. This is also a basis for the future growth and encouragement of the demand, which is a most important element of the anti-crisis policy in the construction sphere,? Kozak emphasized.
The current cost of construction for the APEC summit to be held on Russky Island outside Vladivostok in 2012 is 140 billion roubles, Dmitry Kozak said earlier. He said the cost of construction had been reduced by 15 percent as in Sochi. The environmental situation in the Russian Far East is worse than that in Sochi, but the preparations for the APEC summit, including the construction of waste treatment plants and energy facilities, will help improve it, Kozak said, Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.