The extension of Far Eastern mortgage mechanisms to the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) will require the allocation of RUB 4 bn from the federal budget, Yuri Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District said on Friday. This is reported by TASS.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that when they started working in this direction in the Far East, the amount of funding for the state programme for the whole country was about RUB 5 bn, and now it is about RUB 70 bn. He said it was necessary to prove to the government and the president of the Russian Federation that this was necessary.

'As soon as we can prove with [Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic] Aleksey Olegovich [Chekunkov] that this area of spending is more important than the others, we will win. <...> Now is not a very easy time to increase federal budget spending, but we will try,' he concluded.

The Far Eastern Mortgage programme began in 2019 and was extended until 2030 at the end of last year. Loans are available to young families, participants in the Far Eastern Hectare programme, medics and teachers working in the Far East, as well as residents of Russia's new territories. The loan is available for the purchase or construction of a home at a preferential rate of 2%.