Housing lists are getting a little shorter

“There are days in our life when we feel the happiest people in the world,” said Defense Minister Yevhen MARCHUK , referring to November 6 when 199 servicemen of the Kyiv garrison received keys to comfortable apartments in a newly built high-rise project on Symyrenko St., after long years of living with their families in all kinds of dorms and rented flats.

Addressing the excited new tenants, Mr. Marchuk said he hoped the day would come when servicemen moving into new apartments would regard it as a matter of course. He added that the ministry and the country have every opportunity to do just that. “Officers and men cannot take up politics and business. They imposed these limitations on themselves in order to protect their country and it must duly reward them. What a shame to see a man in uniform spending decades without a decent home, so we will put an end to this together,” promised the Defense Minister.

For the first time in long decades people in uniform seem to have reason enough to take this promise at its face value. The 2003 state budget provides for UAH 285 million worth of housing appropriations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (up to 4,060 apartments are to be built and made available with this money till the end of the year). Next year, the amount will exceed UAH 500 million, promised Mr. Marchuk. Most importantly, this budget clause is “protected,” meaning that no one can use any part of this money for any other purposes. “We have never had such target-oriented and protected funding,” stressed the Defense Minister.