Almost $400M spent for housing construction
By Nigar Abbasova
Some 683.5 million manats ($ 374.4 million) were spent for the housing construction in 2016 in Azerbaijan, where the construction market developed with high speed in recent years.
The major part of the sum fell to a share of non-governmental enterprises, while the share of state enterprises and organizations amounted to 47.5 million manats ($26.02 million),
Housing facilities with an area of 1.68 million of square meters werre commissioned last year, with some 78,600 square meters of them being constructed for IDP’s, according to the State Statistics Committee.
Chairman of the State Committee for work with Refugees and IDPs, Ali Hasanov, earlier announced that the government has already made a decision on relocation of IDPs from the buildings that are in disrepair.
He said that sites for construction have already been chosen and a five-storey, 50-unit residential building will be constructed in the empty plot of land in Ramana settlement. Besides, a 50-unit residential building and two five-story 80-unit residential buildings will be constructed in Masazir settlement. The projects are expected to be implemented within a short period of time.
Nearly 11,200 residential houses have been constructed by means of own resources of citizens in the reported period.
Meanwhile, construction of social houses is also underway in the country. The project is expected to provide young and low-income families with renovated apartments with all conveniences and strengthen social protection of the population.
A foundation stone for the first nine-storey building to be built in Yasamal residential complex was laid in late December 2016. A number of social facilities will be built in the complex, including a 240-seat kindergarten and a 960-seat secondary school. The opening of this first project is scheduled for 2018.
Currently, the share of the construction sector in Azerbaijan’s GDP amounts to about 10 percent.
Overall, the government plans to achieve a GDP growth by 249 million manats ($ 141.2 million) until 2020, through the implementation of measures envisaged in the Strategic Road Map for the development of housing provision at a reasonable price.
The document comprises short-term (until 2020), medium-term (until 2025) and long-term measures (post 2025) to be implemented in the sphere. Some 900 million manats ($493.09 million) are planned to be spent for the implementation of the measures. The financial means are expected to be provided from the state budget, and other sources including the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support, international financial organizations, banking credits, Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund, and securities.
Under the Road Map, some 10,000 new jobs will be created in the construction sector of the country.
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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova
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