YEREVAN, JUNE 25, NOYAN TAPAN. 6,985 homeless citizens, including 1,800 single elderly persons are currently registered in the earthquake zone. Approximately 77 bln drams (about 252 mln USD) is needed to provide them with apartments, the prime minister Tigran Sargsian said at the June 25 sitting of the interdepartmental commission which was set up with the aim of developing and implementing programs on provision of apartments to the families left homeless by the 1988 earthquake. Accoring to him, three versions have been developed for financing the construction of apartments for homeless people. By one version, the state will hold a tender for a private construction organization and assume an obligation to allocate sums from the state budget to this organization within 23 years. Every year the payments will be made at market prices. The second version envisages creation of a mortgage fund. In the words of the chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Arthur Javadian, the fund, which will also have a state participation, will provide part of the sum, then mortgage securities will be issued against this sum and placed within a year, after which the fund will allocate the remaining sum. It is envisaged providing the mortgage credit for 15 years at 9% interest rate. By calculations, construction of 1 square meter of housing space will cost 235 thousand drams, which, in the opinion of chairman of the State Committee of the RA Cadastre Manuk Vardanian, is a very high price. The third version is provision of vouchers. The RA minister of urban development Vardan Vardanian announced that there are 619 incompleted construction facilities in Gyumri, only 136 of which are fit for further construction. According to the minister, if 60 fifty-apartment buildings are constructed in Gyumri, the housing problem will be solved. However, the deputy mayor of Gyumri Gagik Manukian said that none of these incomplete facilities is fit for further construction. It was decided to work out a concept on implementation of the above mentioned work and solution of the problems by August 1 of this year.

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