The land part of the Arctic covers an area of 5 million square kilometers, which is almost one-third of our country’s territory. The Russian Arctic, stretching along the coast of the Arctic Ocean, covers, in whole or in part, 9 regions. These are the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the Yamalo-Nenets, Nenets and Chukotka Autonomous Okrugs, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Sakha Republics (Yakutia), Komi and Karelia.
The most valuable resource in the Arctic is people. The development of this unique region, which amazes the imagination with both its richness and solemnity, depends on them. Issue since 1989 population The population in this region has decreased by about a third, and this is the main obstacle to development today.
Today, only 2.5 million people live in the vast expanses of the Arctic.
In 2020, the development of the Arctic became one of the country’s strategic development priorities. A special role is given to various state support measures, without which the northern regions cannot be developed, given its length, extreme climate and distance from the main economic centers of the country.
Support with action
The main directions, tasks and measures were determined by the Strategy of the Russian Federation for the development of the Arctic region and ensuring national security until 2035. And for the first time, a document of this level states that the main purpose is to improve the quality of life of the people living there. To implement the strategy, a State Program on Social and Economic Development of the Arctic was developed.
First of all, unprecedented measures were taken to attract investors and create employment.
In 2020, the Arctic became the world’s largest special economic zone (SEZ).
Today, approximately 620 companies are established in the Arctic region of the Russian Federation. This spring, the first 100 investment projects were implemented, providing employment for 2.3 thousand people. Statistics show certain results of the measures taken.
According to Rosstat, the average monthly salary in the Arctic in 2022, excluding small businesses, was above the Russian average and amounted to almost 110 thousand rubles. At the same time, the income gap between the top 10% and the bottom 10% of the population in this region in 2021 was 8.3; this was almost half the national average of 15.2.
Almost all residents of the Arctic region have access to broadband Internet. If the national average is 85.5%, in the Arctic it is 87.3%.
The Arctic Development Strategy emphasizes the need for state support for the construction of housing, engineering and social infrastructure and the definition of a system of social guarantees for those living and working in this region.
housing problem
If we talk about the quality of life, we first encounter the problem of housing as a basic need. In this regard, the Arctic is full of contrasts: some settlements are becoming emptier, while others are becoming more and more comfortable, but at the same time, including the conditions for purchasing housing, are becoming more and more expensive.
Paradoxically, the Arctic is both the most sparsely populated and the most urbanized region in Russia. The average population density here is 0.88 people per square kilometer, 9.5 times less than the Russian average. Although the Arctic is associated with snowy expanses and tundra, there are more urban residents here than in other parts of the country – 89% of the population. This is the highest level of urbanization in Russia. Total in the Far North found 90 cities and settlements of urban type.
Another feature of the Arctic is the very high proportion of the working age population, almost 70%. In other regions, this share often does not even reach half.
Therefore, the housing problem for northerners is becoming more and more important. And first of all, two tasks need to be addressed: increasing the affordability of housing and increasing the pace of construction. Both of these problems should be helped by the preferential mortgage program for residents of the Arctic region, which is modeled on the Far Eastern mortgage program and officially began operating on December 8.
A mortgage loan for the purchase of housing in the Arctic can now be obtained with a preferential interest rate of 2% per annum.
The launch of this preferential program is particularly important given the explosion in mortgage interest rates following the key interest rate. Low-interest concessional mortgages will improve the social climate in the Arctic region and give additional impetus to development.
In addition, as practice shows, by stimulating the demand for housing, concessional mortgage programs are becoming a driving force of development and housing construction. This is particularly important for the Arctic, as construction in this region poses additional challenges due to more complex logistics. Stable housing demand will reduce risks for developers and allow them to expand their planning horizons.
more quickly
Although the state support program officially started on December 8, VTB became the first Russian bank to start accepting applications for Arctic mortgages on October 24. Today, the bank carried out its first transactions in the Republic of Karelia, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Arkhangelsk Region. The average loan size was 2.8 million rubles.
“It is very important for Russians living in difficult climatic conditions to have their own comfortable home. That is why we became the first bank to accept applications for “Arctic” mortgages even before the official launch of the program. To date, we have received more than 1.4 thousand requests from our customers and we made our first transactions today. This will allow borrowers to buy a new apartment with a minimum debt burden, and some will be able to celebrate the New Year there,” commented Georgy Gorshkov, Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Directors of VTB.
Severodvinsk resident Anastasia Pirogova was one of the first to apply to VTB under the Arctic Mortgage program.
“My husband and I wanted to improve our living conditions, so we found an apartment in a building under construction in Severodvinsk,” said Anastasia. — The developer calculated the mortgage at 5.5% per annum and set the term as long as possible so that the monthly payment was less. However, despite the 34-year mortgage term, the payment turned out to be unaffordable for our family budget.” According to Pirogova, when VTB announced that it began accepting applications for Arctic mortgages at a rate of 2%, she and her husband contacted the bank to find out how much the payment under the preferential program would be. “The conditions turned out to be favorable, the payment was within our means and the period was much shorter, only 20 years,” said Anastasia. “We can afford our own apartment now.” “We hope this will happen soon.”
Loan funds under the preferential program can be used to purchase an apartment or townhouse in the primary market.
Residents of rural areas and single-industry towns can purchase housing on the secondary market.
The down payment for an “Arctic mortgage” is at least 20% of the value of the property being purchased. A loan of up to 6 million rubles can be obtained for a period of up to 20 years.