Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inspected the construction site for a residential district for servicemen in Volgograd. The district which has been named the Amber City is being built under the federal programme aimed at providing housing to service members.
Vadim Kalinin, the real estate developer, reported to Putin that the construction of social housing for the military at the prices fixed by the Ministry of Regional Development was economically sound only if it were carried out on sites that had established lines of communication. Putin noted that this issue would be discussed by the Commission on Regional Development at the session devoted to reducing administrative barriers in construction.
Deputy Defence Minister Dmitry Bulgakov, who accompanies Putin, remarked that the first 739 flats in the new residential district for the military would be commissioned in December. All in all, 1,978 servicemen will be provided with housing in Volgograd. Each square meter of housing will cost 30,400 roubles.
Speaking with the builders, members of the military and top officials of the Volgograd Region's administration, Putin emphasised that the quality of housing had to be the main criterion. He recalled that several programmes for the construction and repair of housing were being carried out at once. "It is necessary to complete the programme for building permanent housing for the military this year, and next year we will work on service accommodation. It is also essential to provide housing for WWII veterans who were put on the waiting list after March 1, 2005. There is also a programme for relocating people from hazardous housing," Putin said.
Putin also inspected one of the two-bedroom flats in the building under construction, which was designed to meet the modern standard of having 18 square metres of floor space per person.
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During his visit to the construction site in Volgograd's Sovetsky District, where a residential complex for the military is being built, Putin met with Vasily Krima, a native of Guinea-Bissau who ran for the position of head of the Srednyaya Akhtuba District for United Russia in the autumn of the past year.
Krima requested a meeting with the prime minister because of his unusual wish to assign Putin's name to the road that had been repaired in Srednyaya Akhtuba. Krima told Putin in detail about the work he did with his neighbours at their own expense for two and a half years.
Krima also told Putin about his desire to build a swimming pool for children in the same district. He said many of them there could become excellent swimmers but that they did not have a place for training.
Vladimir Putin praised Krima for his initiatives and promised to meet with him again.