In addition to weapons, our military personnel need other things. To live fully, tents and barracks are not enough - the military and their families could use normal housing. In Ukraine, 29.2% of veterans need their own housing, and another 26.5% need improved living conditions How the state solves these issues, read the material
Closed land
Back in the spring of 2017, the domestic media was full of positive information that ATO participants would receive land plots for free. In accordance with paragraph 14 of Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine “On the status of war veterans, guarantees of their social protection,” combatants have benefits for priority allocation of land plots for individual housing construction, gardening and gardening People joked that at least two slaves from among Russian prisoners of war would be added to each plot
But the land, it must be admitted, was not settled right away. As Vyacheslav Konovalov, deputy for logistics of one of the auxiliary units of the 10th separate mountain assault brigade “Edelweiss”, tells OBOZ.UA, there simply wasn’t any land: by that time, almost all of it had been dismantled
“In general, PR on this topic was normal. In fact, the ATO participants did not have any additional benefits; they had the same rights as other citizens who had the right to receive a free plot of land. There were no programs or queues. But the main thing: the question rested on what was available in the communities. land – they gave No – no And most of those who received resold the plots to farmers or agricultural holdings,” says lawyer, land law expert Yan Belogolovy
It is worth noting that after February 24, 2022, Ukraine banned the free transfer of state and communal property to private land. This also applies to Ukrainian military personnel with the status of a participant in hostilities
In principle, after the end of a full-scale war with Russia, this practice can be restored, but it is unlikely that after the victory there will be more free land. In the future, the land may be on temporarily occupied lands. But according to experts, normal demining of the liberated territories will take at least half a century
Housing for active military personnel
As part of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, there is the Main Housing and Maintenance Directorate, whose task is to resolve issues of housing and maintenance support in order to maintain troops in a state of high combat and mobilization readiness. In other words, local management services are responsible for ensuring that the military has a place to live normally
If at “zero”, in the immediate zone of combat missions, everything is clear: it’s better to live there in the best equipped and protected dugouts. But a little further from the front line and the place of permanent deployment, living conditions should be more comfortable
“For officers - official housing We, for example, three officers, in one of the temporary deployment points lived in a hacienda of several rooms, designed for 5 people. If the barracks, but not like in Soviet times, but typical NATO - there are two officers in a room or 5 soldiers or sergeants At points of permanent deployment, contract soldiers, especially family ones (please note - contract soldiers, not mobilized ones), can receive service apartments. Transfer to another duty station - they are given service housing there,” says senior lieutenant Vyacheslav Konovalov
In the future, service housing for military personnel and their families may well become permanent for them
“Three houses and office housing were built near the permanent deployment point. It seems to be temporary, but there are wives and children there... Try to evict them. Especially at a time like this. And after twenty years of service, the apartment can be privatized,” says Sergei Fedenko, a former soldier of the 92nd separate assault brigade, to OBOZ.UA
Housing for the wounded and long-service
According to the Law of Ukraine “On the Social and Legal Protection of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families”, some categories of military personnel can receive housing for free. The military must meet the following requirements
– at least 20 years of military service
– registration of persons in need of improved housing conditions
– using for the first time your right to free housing or its privatization
– registration in the locality of deployment of the military unit in which the serviceman is serving and is registered accordingly
If the military man meets all the above requirements, he submits the necessary documents to the commander of the military unit and gets in line and waits
“As far as I know, since the beginning of a full-scale war, 1,700 apartments have been provided to the military free of charge. Is this a lot? Considering how much is needed, it’s probably not enough. Considering that the funds allocated from the budget are primarily directed to repelling Russian aggression, it’s probably a lot. Or, at least normal,” says Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ivan Lisovoy to OBOZ.UA
By the way, in 2021 the queue for free housing for military personnel was 44.3 thousand people. In 2022 - 43.5 thousand people. And at the end of December 2023 there were 42.2 thousand people in the queue. So the trend is positive
As Deputy Minister of Defense Yuriy Dzhigir reported back in March, 100 million hryvnia are allocated from the budget of the Ministry of Defense in 2024 for the program to provide the Ukrainian military with free housing. And according to the acting. O. Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine Alexander Porkhun, by the end of 2024, about 2,300 families of military personnel should receive free apartments - the ministry has allocated 5.5 billion hryvnia for this purpose. The program is designed for military personnel who received I or II disability group as a result of participation in hostilities
Native donkey
On October 1, 2022, the eOselya affordable housing lending program was launched in Ukraine, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Economy together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Ukrfinzhitl. The main advantage is the ability to buy an apartment with a mortgage at 3% or 7%, while banks offer mortgage rates at level of 15-25% Another advantage, for example: the maximum loan term is 20 years, and the minimum down payment is 20%. This is considering that banks usually have 30%.
7 banks operate under the eOsel program Five state-owned Oschadbank, PrivatBank, Ukrgasbank, Ukreximbank, Sense Bank and two banks with private capital - Globus and Sky Bank Most often the program is financed by Oschadbank - 44%, followed by PrivatBank and Ukrgasbank 30 % and 23% respectively
The program provides that the state will compensate the bank from which citizens took out a mortgage loan with a reduced interest rate. So, the mortgage rate is 3% - it applies specifically to military contractors, as well as representatives of other law enforcement agencies of Ukraine. In addition, doctors, teachers and researchers
As of April 2024, the program was used by more than 7,600 families. Now more than 11,500 loans have been issued for a total amount of 18.4 million hryvnia. At the same time, the percentage of mortgage loans used by military personnel and security forces is almost 58% - 6,671 agreements
“This is not surprising. Now the military and law enforcement agencies are the main investors in the field of purchasing housing. Especially military personnel who fight on the front line and receive more than 100 thousand “combat” per month,” says OBOZ.UA real estate expert Denis Petrov
By the way, those military personnel who have the right to a free apartment due to their length of service also take a fairly active part in purchasing housing
“The fact is that they often don’t give apartments - there aren’t enough of them, but a certificate for housing: they pay in money,” says Sergei Fedenko. It may not be enough for a new apartment: you’ll have to report it, but for a secondary apartment it’s easily enough!”
