Far Easterners with experience say that even planes from West to East fly faster than from east to west. The East seems to attract. And it doesn't let go for a long time. Longer than I'd like. Another eastern feature is the traditional development of vast expanses mainly by military people. Who tried to count all the Trans-Ural garrisons? There are hundreds and hundreds of them. And, as the famous song goes, " people live under these roofs." Our people, who serve their country honestly in difficult conditions, raise their children, and dream of the lights of big cities...

Before 1998, the Pacific Fleet had about 30 separate and closed military towns. Eight of them were "downgraded." In addition, the creation of a unique naval unit in Kamchatka, which includes naval and land forces, coastal troops, aviation, and air defense, resulted in the Pacific Fleet acquiring several dozen additional separate and closed military towns. This means that thousands of military personnel will face housing issues in the future. After all, the Pacific Fleet receives an average of 70 apartments per year for resettlement to the mainland. Last year, the fleet managed to build only 53 apartments in this region (for comparison, in the early 1990s, up to 2,000 apartments were built, but even then, there was a shortage of housing). It is easy to predict that the majority of homeless reservists, who remain on the waiting lists of their military units, will remain in a state of uncertainty for many years. According to the trends, the situation will only get worse over time. So, what are the housing prospects for the Pacific Fleet as a whole and for the unhoused sailors in particular? Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?

The housing fund of the Pacific Fleet is formed in several ways: self-construction, shared participation, and purchases according to the plans of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy and through extra-budgetary funds. There are many ways, but there is a lack of funds. As a result, by the beginning of 1999, the fleet had a housing shortage of over 6,000 apartments (3,360 unaccompanied servicemen, more than 2,280 people in need of better housing conditions, and more than 600 people displaced from closed military towns). These figures are cause for great concern.

At the end of 1998, more than 1,050 reservists were left without housing. In the same year, the Pacific Fleet received only 274 apartments for organizational and staffing measures. Even after all the complex arrangements for housing the reservists and those who had been discharged, the fleet still lacks more than 250 apartments at the current stage of reform.

In general, almost all housing goes to those who are being discharged, while the active fleet remains on the sidelines. However, many reservists remain homeless even years after their discharge. Tatyana Vadilieva, Head of the Department of Internal Policy in the Primorsky Krai Administration, noted that as of January 1, 1993, there were 1,952 homeless families of reserve military personnel in Primorye, and five years later, this number had increased to over 3,500. The trend is clear.

In the mid-1980s, a naval officer who had served for two decades, even if he was discharged from the most remote garrison, would receive an apartment in any regional center of the country within a year, with the exception of the two capitals. Nowadays, such an individual is often left as a "hostage" of their home in a remote area.

The motor rifle division of the Far Eastern Military District is no longer stationed in the town near the Smolianinovo railway station, but the housing stock remains the same - 10 five-storey buildings are fully occupied, with about three thousand residents. Many reserve military personnel have remained here with their families, as they have nowhere to go. There is also a school in the town. Everything is self-sufficient. The local infrastructure is entirely dependent on the Pacific Fleet's coastal forces. What if this unit is also "optimized"?

Fokino, a well-known settlement among military sailors, is not a separate or closed military town. The status of Fokino as a closed administrative-territorial entity does not limit housing rights. It is possible to privatize an apartment here, and on the eve of being discharged from the military, it is possible to sell it. This allows you to return to your hometown, where you can use the proceeds to purchase a log cabin. Given the current prices in Fokino, it is unlikely that you will be able to afford anything more (a newly designed two-bedroom apartment costs around 2,000 conventional units). There are also less civilized settlements on the Pacific coast, where housing costs nothing.

From the city of Fokino, you can move to the west and in accordance with the Law "On closed administrative-territorial formation" of 1993, Residents of the closed territory can get housing in the so-called settlement zones, where shared construction is carried out with budget money. Necessary conditions: stay on the territory of the ZATO for at least 10 years and break ties with the organization where the applicant worked for relocation. Since 1993, a little more than a hundred families have been relocated from the city of Fokino in this way. As usual, the first in line were representatives of the city administration, who had formed a kind of Brighton Beach in St. Petersburg by 1998. Some officials had almost legally obtained two apartments (fictitious divorces, etc.). Over the course of the "five-year plan," a steady housing pipeline "for the insiders" had been established. While officials are also human beings, every ten St. Petersburg apartments are worth more than two dozen similar apartments in Serpukhov or Ruza, where naval participation in construction is also indicated. Unfortunately, the imperfection of our legislation in this case allows the "chosen ones" to live well at someone else's expense. There are no relevant explanations or comments on the Law "On Closed Administrative-territorial entities". As they say in neighboring China, the impact of a seal generates hundreds of yuan. Within the framework of the law. What is there to worry about the rights of military personnel?! And how many housing "streams" run away in this way "to the left", merging on a national scale into full-flowing rivers? Meanwhile, in the city today, more than 1,300 families of reserve military personnel are waiting in line for resettlement. And, to be honest, many of them are doomed to live in the closed military zone forever.

From time to time, newspapers report on hundreds of Russian families who have been discharged from military service and have received new apartments. For example, in the Smolensk region, 213 military families celebrated their new homes in the first eight months of 1997 as part of the government's housing program for reservists (Decree No. 127 of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 27, 1996). Even if the same number of apartments were built in the other five "program" regions of central Russia, it would still be a drop in the ocean.

It was reported that in the Tyumen region, thanks to the efforts of local authorities, military personnel and retired military personnel celebrated a thousand housewarming parties in one year. This is still not enough, even though oil dollars are fueling construction there...

And what should the Pacific Fleet do on the Far Eastern coast, which is running out of money? Maybe they could earn money for housing by converting large anti-submarine ships into fishing trawlers?

Since the early 1990s, federal housing programs for military personnel have been extremely slow-moving, and they have died extremely quickly, without making any significant changes. The program of state housing certificates is no exception. The "priority form" of providing military personnel with permanent housing initially had many drawbacks, starting with the so-called "average cost" per square meter and ending with the 10% "capacity" of the project relative to the number of unhoused personnel in the Armed Forces. It is known that in the first nine months of 1998, only 24.2 percent of the annual budget of 5.1 billion rubles approved by the President of the Russian Federation was allocated for the implementation of the program. 34.5 percent of the annual target was met in terms of issuing housing certificates.

The GZhS program was requested by the Pacific Fleet in the amount of 400 securities, of which 150 were received and only 15 were sold (and only one apartment was "sold" in Vladivostok, where housing prices are almost as high as in Moscow).

Theoretically, a Far Eastern serviceman can apply for civilized urban housing. However, the variety of solutions offered by the government looks like the stone in front of the ancient knight at the crossroads... No matter which way you go, you will lose something.

For example, a military serviceman has the right, no more than three years before his retirement at the age limit or in the year of his retirement due to health reasons, or in connection with organizational and staffing measures, to be recognized as a person in need of housing, registered by the local government, and placed on the waiting list in almost any city in Russia. According to the Government of the Russian Federation's decree of September 6, 1998, the basis for this is the selection of a specific city as the permanent place of residence after retirement (by the way, this is one of the nine possible grounds). The decree seems to be working. No one is going to obstruct it. And yet, it is clear to anyone that a military serviceman or reservist will have to wait an indescribable amount of time in this queue. Until the economy and housing construction are revived. It is no coincidence that since 1992, only a few reserve military servicemen have received housing from the city administration of Vladivostok. In other words, the aforementioned resolution does not solve the problem itself, but rather shifts some of the burden from the Armed Forces to the city and local government authorities. This government maneuver doesn't make life any easier for the homeless military.

Of course, they don't have the right to fire a person without housing. On this basis, it is possible to extend service for 3 to 5 years. But what happens afterward? The basic principles of the law collide with the harsh realities of life, such as the economic difficulties in the country. Until the economy improves, the Pacific Fleet, as well as the Armed Forces as a whole, will continue to add to the ranks of those without housing, and many of those who have been discharged will remain firmly "attached" to their military towns.

Yes, the Constitution gives us the right to freedom of movement and choice of residence, but this right is somewhat declarative. A senior officer receives a little more than 100 conventional units per month, and the average price of an apartment in the regional center is equal to his salary for 15 years. There is a choice, but there is no choice. A military officer cannot be free from the social environment, which essentially preaches one principle: the drowning man must save himself.

Regarding the problem of vacated military towns where people remain, Krasnaya Zvezda recently reported that there are more than 100 such settlements in Russia, and local administrations are in no hurry to take them over. About 25,000 people remain abandoned...

Delaying the solution of the problem and shifting responsibility between different agencies only exacerbates the country's economic challenges over time.

At the end of 1998, a ray of hope seemed to appear. The State Duma passed a harsh resolution stating that the federal program for providing housing to military personnel being discharged was not being implemented satisfactorily. The plan was to provide housing to 50,000 military personnel being discharged as part of the military reform and 160,000 citizens who had been dismissed from military service. The deputies proposed that the Government allocate funds for financing the "State Housing Certificates" program in the 1999 budget and instructed the Accounts Chamber to conduct an audit of the targeted use of funds allocated for this program. The year is coming to an end. We will soon learn about its results.

President Boris Yeltsin once said a fair thought: "If there is a shortage of something in society, it should be equally distributed among everyone." Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, but justice remains an "art of the impossible." The socio-economic stratification of society continues, increasing disunity and tension. It seems that government leaders are not seriously concerned about the growing number of armed homeless people, including military professionals and homeless reserve soldiers who have been left behind."It is not by choice. This is unlikely to contribute to social stability and the success of reforms.

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