Russia’s IT Industry Faces Cuts in Preferential Mortgage Benefits
The government has slashed the number of accredited IT companies eligible to offer preferential mortgage programs to their employees, reducing the cap from a broader pool to 5,000 beneficiaries. This directive came in an order signed by the Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, signaling a shift in how state support is distributed among the technology sector.
Earlier projections assumed that as many as 10,000 IT specialists would be able to secure loans on favorable terms. The realignment occurred in the first half of October, when the Council of Ministers redirected funds away from the provident reserve set aside to back IT firms. The available amount was subsequently trimmed to 500 million rubles, including subsidies for preferential mortgage support for IT employees, down from the initial 1.5 billion rubles. The adjustment reflects a recalibration of how state funds are allocated to stimulate the sector’s growth and to manage fiscal resources more tightly.
The preferred mortgage program for IT professionals was launched in May and has since prioritized employees aged 22 to 40 who earn up to 200 thousand rubles per month, offering the loans at an annual interest rate of 5 percent. This program was designed to attract and retain skilled tech workers by reducing the cost of homeownership and stabilizing the IT labor market during a period of rapid industry expansion.
In early September, the Izvestia newsroom reported a softening in demand for the preferential mortgage program among staff at large Russian banks. The article highlighted that many IT specialists were showing less appetite for the program, which could indicate shifting priorities among tech workers or adjustments in borrowing conditions and loan accessibility that affected interest in applying for these mortgages. The coverage suggested that lenders were reassessing risk and demand in a market undergoing rapid transformation.
On December 1, Ksenia Yudaeva, the first deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, clarified the central bank’s stance on the future of the preferential mortgage scheme for new housing. The central bank indicated that there is no pressing need to maintain the current level of support for new construction through this program, a position that reinforces broader macroeconomic decisions about housing subsidies, monetary policy, and the financing environment for large sectors such as information technology. This declaration has implications for developers, financial institutions, and IT employers who rely on the program as a tool for talent acquisition and retention, as well as for employees planning to purchase homes in the near term.
The series of policy actions reveals a careful balancing act by government authorities between stimulating a fast-growing IT sector and maintaining fiscal restraint. For IT firms, the role of state incentives is evolving from broad-based subsidies to more targeted, budget-conscious measures. For prospective buyers and current employees, these changes may affect loan availability, monthly payments, and the overall affordability of home purchases tied to the tech economy. Observers note that the trajectory of such programs often mirrors wider economic signals, including inflation trends, regional housing markets, and the banks’ appetite to extend credit to tech workers. In this environment, both employers and employees are likely to monitor policy announcements closely, looking for any sign that support might expand again or tighten further under changing economic conditions. (Source: Izvestia)