Vitaly Mutko noted that the priority for DOM.RF was to facilitate the implementation of the government housing policy and make housing more accessible.
Mr Mutko told the President about the implementation during the last three months of the Government anti-crisis programme adopted in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. First, they have been subsidising mortgages; 400,000 applications have been submitted and 80,000 applicants have received payments. Second, DOM.RF is an operator of other mortgage programmes, specifically the two-percent Far Eastern mortgage plan and the family plan. According to Mr Mutko, the demand will rebound; they are planning to reach last year’s level of 1.2–1.3 million mortgage loans before the end of 2020.
The General Director also spoke about support for the construction industry, including through loans to real estate developers and interest rate subsidies. The only condition is that the developers must meet commissioning deadlines and refrain from dismissing personnel. The Government has allocated 12 billion rubles for the purpose. DOM.RF and the Ministry of Construction have promptly launched the programme.
Mr Mutko also said that an information system developed by DOM.RF could monitor the performance of 3,000 real estate developers and the construction of houses for two million flats.
He believes DOM.RF can play an important role in implementing the agenda outlined by President Putin until 2030, which provides for the construction of up to one billion square metres of housing. This means a 70-percent update of the available housing.
In this connection, Mr Mutko mentioned the issue of mortgage bonds as a method of attracting investment, with 500 billion rubles worth of bonds issued during the past four years. DOM.RF proceeds from the assumption that the bonds are the second source of investment, the first one being bank loans amounting to 15 trillion rubles, given that about 20 trillion rubles is needed for construction purposes until 2024.
The President remarked that it is necessary to control the process and do things in a highly circumspect manner. Mr Mutko replied that the Central Bank was exercising close control, while the Government was contemplating an issue of infrastructure bonds.
As for financial results, Mr Mutko said they managed to maintain financial stability during the crisis. This year, they will pay 15 billion rubles in dividends to the state.
On the President’s instruction, they have established an authorised bank and introduced project financing, which accounts for 36 million square metres out of the 99 million square metres of housing that are currently under construction. Project financing covers about 1,200 contracts and 1.5 trillion rubles.
Tapping land reserves is another important aspect of work done by DOM.RF. They have drafted standards for the comprehensive development of inefficiently used territories. Housing construction cooperatives and rental housing are developing.
According to Mr Mutko, there is a number of tasks involved in a comprehensive development of territories. On the whole, he hopes for decent year-end results and believes that the indices will not be any worse than last year.