Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in Russian State Council meeting on developing construction sector and improving urban planning

On May 17, during his working trip to Moscow, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in a meeting of the Russian State Council on developing construction sector and improving urban planning chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

Heads of regions, federal ministers, and officials representing construction companies and banks took part in the meeting, which discussed measures to develop the construction sector, including implementing investment projects and introducing new technology, harmonizing construction legislation and applying public-private partnership mechanisms.

In his welcoming remarks, Putin stated that “the construction sector is a strategically important element of the country’s socioeconomic development. It is also one of the most rapidly expanding and promising segments of the market, which accounts for nearly 6 per cent of GDP.”

He reminded that ten years ago  the Urban Planning Code to streamline construction legislation were adopted.

“Since then we have achieved significant, even record-high performance results in housing construction. In 2014, we commissioned 84.2 million square metres of housing and increased construction to 85 million square metres last year. Moreover, the construction of economy class housing has increased by 20 per cent,” he said.

“However, the public demand for better housing has not been satisfied yet, which we can only do by using reliable market mechanisms such as the mortgage system. Over the past five years, mortgage loans have helped us increase housing construction by 60 per cent and the construction of economy class housing by 90 per cent,” he went on to say.

“The mortgage system is a powerful driver of housing construction, and the Government together with the Bank of Russia should look for ways to reduce the interest rate on mortgage loans and new methods for attracting investment in the mortgage system without increasing budget expenditures,” Putin stressed.