32% Of Moscow Residents To Pay For Housing And Communal Services In Full

Moscow residents, who earn more than 8,500 rubles ($285) a month, will pay 100 per cent of communal and housing services starting in 2002, a Moscow government official announced at a press conference today. He noted that, as of now, about 32 per cent of residents of the Russian capital are able to pay for housing and communal services in full and about 6 per cent of residents are doing this already. The average cost of such services will reach about 22.9 rubles ($0.77) per 1 square meters of an apartment. The official stressed that the existing system of privileges and allowances will be preserved.