I. Metshin: “Monuments break, and they cannot be restored by the forces of municipalities”

(KZN.RU, May 17, Alena Miroshnichenko). Today, Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, the chairman of the Association of Volga Cities (AVC), raised the topic of emergency housing and cultural heritage at the meeting of the District Advisory Council for the development of local self-government under the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District. The Mayor of Kazan proposed to provide targeted funding from the federal and regional budgets for the restoration of cultural heritage objects after resettlement.

Ilsur Metshin told colleagues about the experience of Kazan in solving the issue of eliminating emergency housing and resettlement of city residents. In particular, about the unprecedented program for the elimination of dilapidated housing, initiated by Mintimer Shaimiev, the first President of the RT. Thanks to that program, more than 33 thousand families moved to comfortable housing in the city, 315 apartment buildings were built and settled.

“However, the problem of eliminating emergency and dilapidated housing was still not fully resolved. In 2013, a new program was approved, which included 89 emergency houses where nearly 1600 families lived”, said the Mayor. He noted that for many cities, the complexity of resettlement and the implementation of a program to eliminate emergency housing lies in the availability of cultural heritage objects, which are protected by the state and prohibited for demolition.

The program finances only the resettlement of such houses. Their following restoration requires separate and very serious funds. Including them in the overhaul program is impossible under the terms of federal law №185-FZ.

Ilsur Metshin made a proposal on the need to provide targeted funding from the federal and regional budgets for the restoration of cultural heritage objects after resettlement. “For this, we need a decision at the federal level. Monuments break every day, and they cannot be restored by the forces of municipalities”, said the Mayor of Kazan.

He also mentioned the topic of determining the cost of housing. I. Metshin noted spoke of federal monitoring of the average market cost of housing in the context of the capitals of the subjects, designed to determine the size of the cost of one square meter during the resettlement of citizens, within the framework of the Federal Law “On the Housing and Communal Services Reform Fund”.

This question is quite acute for other cities, in particular Penza, as Viktor Kuvaytsev, the head of the city administration, told about. “When implementing the resettlement program from emergency housing, we must remember that it is federal, and should not put a huge burden on the municipalities. Of course, we are working and we will continue to do so. But for the sake of objectivity, we must make it more mundane, real. The fact is that we pull out this program, but this is associated with certain costs that do not allow us to fulfill our direct responsibilities”, he explained.

Continuing the theme of the powers of municipalities, Ilsur Metshin noted the need to provide them with revenue sources. “The smaller part in local budgets is made up by own revenues, which municipalities can use independently. In current conditions, municipalities are dependent on higher budgets”, said I. Metshin. The Mayor of the capital of RT noted that the cities had to solve the most difficult task set by the President of the RF. It is ensuring an increase in the comfort of the urban environment, an increase in the quality index of the urban environment by 30%, a reduction in the number of cities with an unfavorable environment by 2 times. “Not municipality can do this only on its own”, marked the head of Kazan.

Sergey Parchin, the head of Ulyanovsk, marked that I. Metshin, as the chairman of the Association of Volga Cities and an experienced leader, clearly and competently described the problems that had accumulated in cities and municipalities. “We all recognize that Kazan, and Tatarstan as a whole, are ahead of the entire Volga Federal District. And it should be noted that the Ulyanovsk region and its center has been friends with Tatarstan since ancient times, we are sharing much with each other”, said S. Panchin.

Valery Radaev, the Governor of the Saratovskaya Oblast, noted that local government is the closest link to the population with the authority directly responsible for the welfare of life. “But responsibility is only increasing. Regional and municipal authorities are interested in the successful implementation of national projects. Thus, we will continue to work the same way together, because the main array of national tasks is being implemented here, on the ground, as Vladimir Putin said. The results should be visible in every subject”, he marked.

In conclusion, Ilsur Metshin noted that the President of Russia in each of the national projects identified breakthrough goals and set high standards for their implementation. “We, as city leaders, understand our responsibility and set out for ourselves certain strategies for further work. However, once again I want to emphasize that only together, by combining efforts at all levels and budgets, can we achieve our goals. We can improve the quality of life of citizens, create sustainable economic growth, a comfortable and safe environment and all conditions for the self-realization of citizens”, said the Mayor of Kazan.

The meeting was held in the information center of Balakovo NPP (Saratovskaya Oblast). Igor Komarov, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the RF in the Volga Federal District, Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan and the chairman of the Association of Volga Cities (AVC), representatives of the Federal Assembly of the RF, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Economic Development of the RF, representatives of municipalities, and experts took part in it.