The buy-out of 75 apartments in an apartment block located in Boyarka at UAH 6,900 per square meter is not related to a program on the purchase of apartments in unfinished residential blocks to give them to people entitled with benefits.
"A house, where the apartments in Boyarka were bought, does not have any relation to a program, which we're discussing now. The apartments were bought through the SMI [State Mortgage Institution] before the start of the realization of the program, which firstly was announced on August 5, and which is under control of the Regional Development and Construction Ministry," First Deputy Regional Development and Construction Minister Anatoliy Berkuta told the press in Kyiv on August 14, answering questions on the program on the purchase of apartments in uncompleted houses to give them to people entitled with benefits.
"Ask Mr. [Andriy] Kamuz [the SMI head] and he would give you exhaustive information," he said.
Berkuta also said that at present, the program implies the purchase of apartments worth UAH 2 billion, including UAH 1 billion of a credit issued by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU).
He also said that a ceiling price of one square meter set earlier by the government at UAH 4,200 could be increased for apartments in unfinished apartment blocks in Crimea, Kyiv city and Kyiv region.
As reported, the State Mortgage Institution has transferred 75 apartments at 19-a, Bilohorodska Street in Boyarka (Kyiv region) to the Interior Ministry to give apartments to officers on a waiting list for housing.
This is stipulated in cabinet resolution No. 916-r of August 5.
According to the document, the funds to reimburse the value of the apartments would be sent to the SMI from the national budget for 2009, and the Finance Ministry and Interior Ministry are to draw up relevant amendments. The ministries are to foresee similar expenses for upcoming budgets.
The total area of apartments sold to the Interior Ministry is 5,773 square meters worth UAH 39.834 million (around UAH 6,900 per square meter).
The Ukrainian government at a meeting on Wednesday, August 12 approved a list of 49 unfinished housing projects in various regions of Ukraine to buy apartments using UAH 448.59 million in funds from the State Mortgage Institution (SMI) for transfer to people entitled to housing benefits. A total of 1,661 apartments of 113,000 square meters would be bought.
Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko at the cabinet meeting said that the financing of the program would total UAH 2 billion, and the funds would be invested in the construction sector within a month.
Earlier, Deputy Regional Development and Construction Minister Dmytro Isayenko said that he was aware of only about UAH 1 billion being on the account of the State Mortgage Institution - funds received via the sale of its bonds to Oschadbank.
Tymoshenko said that the government would made similar decisions at each cabinet meeting, and the price of one square meter in apartments would depend on the region, being from UAH 2,500 to UAH 4,200 per square meter.
