RUSSIA HOUSING

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(24 Mar 1995) Russian/Nat • • Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin told a special government session in the Kremlin today (Friday) that Russia is nearing a turning point in stabilising its battered economy. • • Even so, Russia's changing economic landscape has created a chasm between those still battling poverty, and others who are amassing fortunes. • • As APTV discovered, these nouveau riche are buying up precious lots of land around Moscow, threatening the very livelihoods of many who depend on the land. • • The Russian countryside starts just twenty minutes' drive from the centre of Moscow. • • Here the ugly tower blocks that dominate the capital's skyline give way to traditional wooden Russian dachas. Few people in the village of • Arkhangelskoye have jobs in the city. • • They manage to live off the small plots of land given to them by the government. But not for much longer if their new neighbours have anything to do with it. • • This is because the peaceful landscape of Arkhangelskoye is being disturbed by one of Russia's new boom industries - real estate. • • Small plots of land like these near the centre of Moscow are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to property developers catering to Russia's nouveau riches who have plenty of money to spend. • • SOUNDBITE (Russian): • Business is growing. People are getting more money which they are using for personal consumption. Demand for the most prestigious and expensive plots of land has increased significantly. • • SUPERCAPTION: • Vyacheslav Korchashkin, General Director Agra Property Developers • • A house like this will cost around half a million dollars. Many are being built for top bureaucrats whose annual income is less than 5-thousand dollars. And with no mortgage system in Russia, some politicians are asking how they can afford such magnificent homes. • • SOUNDBITE (Russian): • It is the materialization of today's society. Everything for sale. A house doesn't appear out of thin air. It takes money and you have to sell something to get it. What on earth does a bureaucrat own worth selling but a pair of old pants? His connections, his power, of course. • • SUPERCAPTION: • Yuri Chernichenko, President Peasants' Party Russia • • At a time when Russia's parliament has yet to consider legislation that would allow the free sale of land, housing developments like the one around Arkhangelskoye are popping up all over the country. • • Even Russia's big banks are establishing rural branches to cater to the new land owning elite. • • SOUNDBITE Russian: • • These villages are becoming super-elite localities, you don't get • outsiders here. The few that are still here, who haven't sold up, will probably sell up soon and go away. • • SUPERCAPTION: • Vyacheslav Korchashkin, General Director Agra Property Developers • • The once bustling market of Arkhangelskoye is testimony to the changing face of the countryside. Local farmers still come to sell their produce but realise they may not be here this time next year. • • SOUNDBITE (Russian): • They are building everywhere. All land has been sold off. Agricultural land has been sold off. Sixty-four hectares near our village have been sold for the construction of three and even five-storey houses. There is no pasture land, there is nowhere for cattle to graze, our farms are being ruined. All because land has been sold off, all the land. • • SUPERCAPTION: Gennady Rodchenko, Farmer • • Unlike the political elite of the Soviet past who carefully concealed their magnificent weekend homes behind high fences and KGB guards, Russia's nouveau riches are not scared to flaunt their newly acquired wealth. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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