Russian Prosecutor General’s office acknowledged the contributions for the overhaul unconstitutional. The constitutional court received comments from ministries and agencies in connection with complaints of deputies from the CPRF and “Fair Russia”. In the document submitted by the Prosecutor General’s office, said that “the challenged norm does not specify the amount and terms of disposal of financial resources and determines the order of their return, which can create conditions under which the owners of the premises will not be able to dispose of the money transferred in the account of the operator, and this leads to a violation of the Constitution”.
Many Russians do not go to court, and just silently ignore these contributions. On 27 January the head of the government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev stated that 23% of homeowners failed to timely pay the funds to the regional funds of capital repairs. “We understand that people to the money are more tenderly than to abstract spending from the budget. They want to receive confirmation that the contributions for the overhaul does not go where it is not clear”, — said the Prime Minister.
And really: where does the money go? How good are the repairs? With this understood, the correspondent of the Federal news Agency.
First money, then chairs
In 2012 was adopted a law requiring apartment owners to pay for major repairs of apartment houses. The scheme is simple: all pay into a common regional Fund money, based on the square footage of the apartment, and the money collected will be carried out repair. The state houses are different, so first from the Fund of funds for those homes that need repairs now. Thus, the residents of new buildings pay for owners of old buildings, and they have the repair in about 30 years, and when their house will grow old. Repairs carried out by the contractor.
The Fund accumulated funds of owners of housing. The money collected by the Fund, accrued interest, which also should go to repair houses. The operation of the Fund — office rent, staff salaries, etc. — is payable only from the regional budget.
So on paper. What?
Will demolish the balcony for a million
But in reality the temptation to dispose in any way of huge amount of money of Fund is quite large. Not everyone can resist. I could not, for example, to cope with the temptation of the Director of the Khanty-Mansiysk Fund for major repairs Sergei Makarov. During his leadership in 2015 at the expense of Fund of assistance to major repairs of apartment houses came to 1.16 billion rubles, and spent on the repair was only half: 563 million. This interest was put on the operation of the Fund and the salaries of employees. Personally, Makarov received, neither more nor less than a million rubles a month.
Yes, and the repair is often not “capital”. In Togliatti contractors during the works replaced old pipes for cheap polypropylene and connected them with usable iron. After the “repair” plastic pipes had burst, and three apartments were flooded with sewage from the sewage.
The residents of the house outside the Cathedral in Saratov also unhappy with the repair. Builders are not equipped building a system of snow retention. Houses with crumbling plaster, and the sheets are much thinner than stated in the estimate.
Comes to the absurd. In the village Mezen of the Sverdlovsk region during the overhaul of two-storey house workers demolished the balcony…! One of the balconies collapsed in the fall of a beam from the roof, and the second the builders have demolished themselves, to the heap. Now housing and communal services assure the owner of the apartment Dmitry Zhiganov that there was no balcony. Extract from the technical passport to convince them failed. The repairmen stated that it had demolished the balcony “only for the safety of residents”.
As I want come back
It is worth noting that regional authorities have powers to dispose of the money Fund overhaul quite freely. This is facilitated by taken in the end of 2015, an amendment to the legislation.
Sagem, at the beginning of February deputies of Sverdlovsk regional Duma calmly discussing where to send the money accumulated by citizens. They will be transferred from the accounts of commercial banks at the expense of the local Treasury. Thus the regional authorities are planning, apparently, to patch holes in the budget. Quite possibly, this will set a precedent, and soon to expand in this way, the budget will want and other regions.
According to the lawyer Bureau “Grigoriev and partners” Nikita Fedorovstated in the documents the separateness of the capital repair Fund from the state is a fiction: “Under the Charter, the Fund is a non — profit organization. But he established the government of the Sverdlovsk region, and the Fund Board is appointed by the Governor. Thus, it is fully accountable to the structure. The fact that the Executive power”.
In this regard, according to Fedorov, to exercise control over the expenditure of funds will be a problem: “it needs to Control housing supervision. But given the fact that they all grow from the same Executive, despite what they themselves control. Put the Fox to guard the chickens”.
“On balance we can say that if our contributions to the Fund, which are established by the subject of Federation, are managed and stored them, these fees are quasi-taxes. Just another form of withdrawals from the population,” said the lawyer.
Hermann Parle
