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Presidential Aide and Secretary of the State Council Igor Levitin held the second meeting of the State Council Presidium working group on the investment appeal of housing and utilities.

Head of the working group, Voronezh Region Governor Alexei Gordeyev reported on drafting a report on priority strategic measures to upgrade Russia’s housing and utilities sector.

The working group analysed reports from the regions, experts and professional communities and drafted proposals on developing housing and utilities.

The meeting was attended by Construction, Housing and Utilities Minister Mikhail Men, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Galina Karelova, Accounts Chamber auditor Yury Roslyak, representatives of the State Duma and regional and federal executive bodies, and of the expert community.

The participants discussed the main obstacles to developing housing and utilities that require priority attention.

The industry’s annual turnover exceeds 4.7 trillion rubles (about 5.4 percent of Russia’s GDP). It serves over 146 million people, or the entire country. In 2016, utilities produced a profit of 4 trillion rubles, including 1.6 trillion rubles in payments received from the population.

Indicatively, the utilities industry is systematically underfunded, which leads to the high wear and tear of its infrastructure and, as a consequence, an increase in accidents and reduction in the quality of services.

The participants discussed issues stemming from the industry’s weak investment activity and the depreciation of its infrastructure.