Chechens to get $637m in compensations

The total sum of compensations to Chechen citizens for their ruined houses and apartments will amount to 20bn rubles (about $637m), Stanislav Ilyasov, the Minister of Social and Economic Development of Chechnya, told journalists after today's meeting of a government commission for compensations to Chechens. According to him, the payments are to start by the end of this year. The resources will be allocated from the federal budget. At present, corresponding ministries and agencies are preparing lists of people who have lost their houses and property.

Ilyasov noted that the amount of compensation would depend on whether a house had been ruined completely, ruined by 50 percent or by 30 percent. According to the current data, some 270,000 people are to receive money. He also mentioned that about 1bn rubles ($31.86m) would be spent on the reconstruction of apartment buildings and houses within the framework of a federal program this year.