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Russia’s Federation Council adopts Moscow housing renovation bill

The draft law received 147 supportive votes, no one voted against the bill, four senators refrained from voting

Elevated view of Soviet-era apartment blocks in Moscow Valery Sharifulin/TASS

Elevated view of Soviet-era apartment blocks in Moscow

© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) adopted the bill on housing renovation in Moscow at the plenary session on Wednesday.

The draft law received 147 supportive votes, no one voted against the bill, four senators refrained from voting.

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The document defines ‘renovation’ as "a set of measures aimed at renovating the living environment of citizens in order to prevent the formation of a failing housing stock in Moscow, develop housing property, and ensure the creation of a favorable living environment, public spaces and improvement of areas."

In the beginning of 2017, Vladimir Putin ordered Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin to tear down the so-called ‘Khrushchevki’ - five-story apartment blocks - constructed to ease the acute housing problem in the 1950s and 1960s under the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

The residents of demolished low-rise housing units will be offered to move into newly-built apartment blocks. According to preliminary estimates, the capital is set to renovate over 25 million square meters of real estate, or ten percent of its housing projects, within the next 10-15 years.

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