Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin: About 100 agreements are planned to be signed at the XIV International Economic Forum "Russia - the Islamic World"
Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin: About 100 agreements are planned to be signed at the XIV International Economic Forum "Russia - the Islamic World"
18 May
Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin - on cooperation with Islamic countries, mortgages and road repairs The XIV International Economic Forum "Russia - the Islamic World" starts in Kazan today.
It promises to become a point of growth in Russia's cooperation with Muslim states and the main platform for economic cooperation, cultural and public relations. On the eve of the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told Rossiyskaya Gazeta about the impact of the forum on the development of ties with Islamic countries, as well as about mortgages, defrauded shareholders and road repairs. In what areas is Russia's cooperation with the countries of the Islamic world most promising?
Marat Khusnullin: Russia has maintained and will continue to maintain honest, respectful relations with the countries of the Islamic world. The President has repeatedly noted that Russia will always expand and deepen cooperation with the Muslim world.
One of the designated priorities in the development of cooperation with Islamic states in the current realities is the construction of competent logistics. At the upcoming KazanForum, we plan to sign a number of agreements in the field of transport infrastructure. The agenda includes the development of the international transport corridor "North - South", as well as the synchronization of plans for railway construction.
Another promising direction is the export of halal agricultural products from Russia.
I have mentioned only a number of examples, in general, about 100 agreements are planned to be signed within the framework of the business program of the forum. I hope that we will come to concrete, practical results.
You are in charge of the construction complex, and the main driver of demand for new apartments now is a mortgage. Are additional mortgage support measures and new preferential programs planned? Will there be a preferential mortgage for secondary housing?
Marat Khusnullin: As I have already noted, we are constantly monitoring the effectiveness and relevance of existing mortgage programs, their impact on demand and the market as a whole. In the first quarter, there was a decrease in mortgage issuance rates compared to last year. In monetary terms, the decrease was 7%. Growth is already being recorded in April. We are monitoring the situation, and if the current measures are not enough, we will come out with additional proposals to adjust mortgage programs.
As for secondary housing, the secondary accounts for about 70% of demand. This is an important area that needs to be developed, since both the sale of new housing and housing construction in general depend on it. When people want to improve their living conditions, in order to buy new housing, even in a new building under a preferential mortgage program, they must first sell their existing apartment on the secondary market. In addition, there are cities where almost no new housing is being built or very little is being built yet.
I consider the key rate to be the most important issue for maintaining the secondary housing market. If it is lower, the mortgage will become cheaper, and thus will support demand. This was the case in 2021 - thanks to the low key rate, mortgages, including for secondary housing, were actively developing.
Over the past year, the share of unsold apartments in new buildings has increased. Are additional measures to support developers being prepared?
Marat Khusnullin: Let me remind you that last year we set a historical record for housing commissioning - 102.7 million square meters. meters. Now the President has set the task to keep the pace of housing construction. And by 2030, according to the goal of the national project "Housing and urban environment", we must achieve the commissioning of 120 million square meters per year.
Naturally, it is necessary to create such conditions so that the built apartments are in demand and people can use them to improve their living conditions. In this regard, first of all, we are taking measures to support the demand of the population.
Citizens should be sure that their housing will be completed on time, so we think it is right to work out support measures in this direction.
Another possible measure is a program of subsidizing developers in settlements with low supply. Construction should also continue in such cities. Will it be possible to solve the problem of deceived shareholders by the end of the year, or are there new problem houses?
Marat Khusnullin: Together with the regions, we are working quite effectively in this direction. At the beginning of 2023, the joint efforts of the Territorial Development Fund and the subjects of the Russian Federation restored the rights of over 162 thousand citizens affected by the actions of developers. This means that all of them received either apartments or compensation of funds invested in the construction of problem houses.
In four months of 2023, more than 11 thousand people were restored to their rights. In recent years, we have formed a legislative framework that regulates the entire process of providing assistance to defrauded shareholders: from making a decision on a problematic object to the moment of transferring an apartment or transferring compensation to a citizen's account.
Various mechanisms have been developed to protect construction participants with the involvement of citizens' funds, one of the most popular is escrow accounts. Almost 92% of housing is now being built using this mechanism. If we talk in absolute numbers - more than 1.8 million apartments.
The volume of individual housing construction has decreased. What are the forecasts?
Marat Khusnullin: According to Rosstat, 28.9 million square meters of housing were commissioned in Russia in the first quarter. For apartment buildings, we have increased by 10%, but for residential housing we record a decrease of 8%.
Individual housing construction is the kind of work that needs to be done systematically. We discuss these issues almost weekly at the headquarters with the regions, we keep them under control. In order for the housing and communal services to develop, it is necessary to form an understandable and safe market for all participants - citizens, developers and banks. So, to support demand, we continue to develop mortgages. For example, all preferential mortgage programs have been extended to residential housing. In addition, a preferential mortgage was launched for the construction of individual housing with economic capacity, that is, on their own without the involvement of contractors.
They also gave the legislative opportunity to build individual houses with the involvement of project financing, according to escrow accounts. Now citizens can be sure of protecting their funds.
At the same time, the government continues to actively work to reduce unnecessary, duplicative administrative procedures that reduce the costs of developers. In recent years, it has been possible to reduce the number of documents, information, materials and approvals required for construction from 1,168 to 699. The plan by the end of the year is to reduce this number to 650. The project implementation period has been reduced from 2181 days to 1574 days. By the end of the year, we plan to reduce it to 1300 days.
We are also doing a lot of work to find new sites. In 2022, Rosreestr identified 105 thousand hectares of unused land suitable for the construction of residential buildings.
All these measures are designed to stimulate developers to increase the pace of housing construction, including individual. We see that a number of large developers have announced plans to build low-rise buildings.
This year it is planned to break last year's record for road repairs. Which roads will be emphasized - federal, municipal? In which regions?
Marat Khusnullin: In the road industry, we have been demonstrating record figures for two years in a row, as well as in construction. In 2022, 176.5 million square meters were laid on the regional and local road network, taking into account the new regions. m of asphalt is almost 9% more than the record figure of 2021. In 2023, a similar volume of asphalt is expected to be laid on the regional and local road network. In 2022, the indicators for bringing both regional roads and roads in agglomerations into a normative state were met.
Today we are faced with the task of keeping this bar, not to reduce the pace we have gained. According to federal roads, the plans for 2023 are to repair about 3.5 thousand kilometers. An important role in getting ahead of schedule is played by both the readiness of builders to accelerate and the financial component. So, this year, subject to advanced financing, we will be able to repair, including capital, about the same as last year - a little more than 6.2 thousand km.
As for regional and local roads, about 20.6 thousand km were repaired last year, this year the plan is slightly higher - almost 21.8 thousand km. On behalf of the President, more than 120 billion rubles of advanced financing will be allocated to roads in the regions. The funds are planned to be directed to measures for the construction and reconstruction of roads in 24 regions and for the overhaul and repair of roads in 66 subjects.
It promises to become a point of growth in Russia's cooperation with Muslim states and the main platform for economic cooperation, cultural and public relations. On the eve of the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told Rossiyskaya Gazeta about the impact of the forum on the development of ties with Islamic countries, as well as about mortgages, defrauded shareholders and road repairs. In what areas is Russia's cooperation with the countries of the Islamic world most promising?
Marat Khusnullin: Russia has maintained and will continue to maintain honest, respectful relations with the countries of the Islamic world. The President has repeatedly noted that Russia will always expand and deepen cooperation with the Muslim world.
One of the designated priorities in the development of cooperation with Islamic states in the current realities is the construction of competent logistics. At the upcoming KazanForum, we plan to sign a number of agreements in the field of transport infrastructure. The agenda includes the development of the international transport corridor "North - South", as well as the synchronization of plans for railway construction.
Another promising direction is the export of halal agricultural products from Russia.
I have mentioned only a number of examples, in general, about 100 agreements are planned to be signed within the framework of the business program of the forum. I hope that we will come to concrete, practical results.
You are in charge of the construction complex, and the main driver of demand for new apartments now is a mortgage. Are additional mortgage support measures and new preferential programs planned? Will there be a preferential mortgage for secondary housing?
Marat Khusnullin: As I have already noted, we are constantly monitoring the effectiveness and relevance of existing mortgage programs, their impact on demand and the market as a whole. In the first quarter, there was a decrease in mortgage issuance rates compared to last year. In monetary terms, the decrease was 7%. Growth is already being recorded in April. We are monitoring the situation, and if the current measures are not enough, we will come out with additional proposals to adjust mortgage programs.
As for secondary housing, the secondary accounts for about 70% of demand. This is an important area that needs to be developed, since both the sale of new housing and housing construction in general depend on it. When people want to improve their living conditions, in order to buy new housing, even in a new building under a preferential mortgage program, they must first sell their existing apartment on the secondary market. In addition, there are cities where almost no new housing is being built or very little is being built yet.
I consider the key rate to be the most important issue for maintaining the secondary housing market. If it is lower, the mortgage will become cheaper, and thus will support demand. This was the case in 2021 - thanks to the low key rate, mortgages, including for secondary housing, were actively developing.
Over the past year, the share of unsold apartments in new buildings has increased. Are additional measures to support developers being prepared?
Marat Khusnullin: Let me remind you that last year we set a historical record for housing commissioning - 102.7 million square meters. meters. Now the President has set the task to keep the pace of housing construction. And by 2030, according to the goal of the national project "Housing and urban environment", we must achieve the commissioning of 120 million square meters per year.
Naturally, it is necessary to create such conditions so that the built apartments are in demand and people can use them to improve their living conditions. In this regard, first of all, we are taking measures to support the demand of the population.
Citizens should be sure that their housing will be completed on time, so we think it is right to work out support measures in this direction.
Another possible measure is a program of subsidizing developers in settlements with low supply. Construction should also continue in such cities. Will it be possible to solve the problem of deceived shareholders by the end of the year, or are there new problem houses?
Marat Khusnullin: Together with the regions, we are working quite effectively in this direction. At the beginning of 2023, the joint efforts of the Territorial Development Fund and the subjects of the Russian Federation restored the rights of over 162 thousand citizens affected by the actions of developers. This means that all of them received either apartments or compensation of funds invested in the construction of problem houses.
In four months of 2023, more than 11 thousand people were restored to their rights. In recent years, we have formed a legislative framework that regulates the entire process of providing assistance to defrauded shareholders: from making a decision on a problematic object to the moment of transferring an apartment or transferring compensation to a citizen's account.
Various mechanisms have been developed to protect construction participants with the involvement of citizens' funds, one of the most popular is escrow accounts. Almost 92% of housing is now being built using this mechanism. If we talk in absolute numbers - more than 1.8 million apartments.
The volume of individual housing construction has decreased. What are the forecasts?
Marat Khusnullin: According to Rosstat, 28.9 million square meters of housing were commissioned in Russia in the first quarter. For apartment buildings, we have increased by 10%, but for residential housing we record a decrease of 8%.
Individual housing construction is the kind of work that needs to be done systematically. We discuss these issues almost weekly at the headquarters with the regions, we keep them under control. In order for the housing and communal services to develop, it is necessary to form an understandable and safe market for all participants - citizens, developers and banks. So, to support demand, we continue to develop mortgages. For example, all preferential mortgage programs have been extended to residential housing. In addition, a preferential mortgage was launched for the construction of individual housing with economic capacity, that is, on their own without the involvement of contractors.
They also gave the legislative opportunity to build individual houses with the involvement of project financing, according to escrow accounts. Now citizens can be sure of protecting their funds.
At the same time, the government continues to actively work to reduce unnecessary, duplicative administrative procedures that reduce the costs of developers. In recent years, it has been possible to reduce the number of documents, information, materials and approvals required for construction from 1,168 to 699. The plan by the end of the year is to reduce this number to 650. The project implementation period has been reduced from 2181 days to 1574 days. By the end of the year, we plan to reduce it to 1300 days.
We are also doing a lot of work to find new sites. In 2022, Rosreestr identified 105 thousand hectares of unused land suitable for the construction of residential buildings.
All these measures are designed to stimulate developers to increase the pace of housing construction, including individual. We see that a number of large developers have announced plans to build low-rise buildings.
This year it is planned to break last year's record for road repairs. Which roads will be emphasized - federal, municipal? In which regions?
Marat Khusnullin: In the road industry, we have been demonstrating record figures for two years in a row, as well as in construction. In 2022, 176.5 million square meters were laid on the regional and local road network, taking into account the new regions. m of asphalt is almost 9% more than the record figure of 2021. In 2023, a similar volume of asphalt is expected to be laid on the regional and local road network. In 2022, the indicators for bringing both regional roads and roads in agglomerations into a normative state were met.
Today we are faced with the task of keeping this bar, not to reduce the pace we have gained. According to federal roads, the plans for 2023 are to repair about 3.5 thousand kilometers. An important role in getting ahead of schedule is played by both the readiness of builders to accelerate and the financial component. So, this year, subject to advanced financing, we will be able to repair, including capital, about the same as last year - a little more than 6.2 thousand km.
As for regional and local roads, about 20.6 thousand km were repaired last year, this year the plan is slightly higher - almost 21.8 thousand km. On behalf of the President, more than 120 billion rubles of advanced financing will be allocated to roads in the regions. The funds are planned to be directed to measures for the construction and reconstruction of roads in 24 regions and for the overhaul and repair of roads in 66 subjects.
