Russian Housing Urgently Needs Private Capital for Repairs

Reforming Russia's housing sector will be impossible without attracting private capital, according to Nikolai Koshman, the chairman of state housing and construction agency Gosstroi. Koshman was speaking at parliamentary hearings in the Federation Council.

According to Koshman, municipal authorities today have debts of 274 billion roubles (USD 8.7 billion). 'You can't carry out reforms with those kind of debts,' said the head of Gosstroi. The federal budget is also unable to provide 100% of the money needed for reconstruction and maintenance work in the housing sector. If the present rates of reconstruction and repair continue, the condition of buildings will deteriorate by 60%, after which it ceases to be worthwhile repairing housing, added Koshman. Over 3% of the housing supply is currently in a dangerous condition, and 300 million square metres require urgent capital repairs, said the chairman of Gosstroi.