When dreams come true

The 2020-2025 state support programme tackles the main problems of the Russian village. It is aimed at making health care, social welfare, education and housing facilities available to the residents of rural areas. EkoNivaAgro was among the first enterprises to join the project. The company built four types of houses (with the floorspace of 57, 79, 90 or 120 square metres) for its employees. The houses are connected to all utility lines, have a modern interior and are partially furnished. Besides, each house comes with a 7 to 15 square metre land plot, which can be used as a garden, a vegetable plot, or a smallholding. The investment volume of the project amounted to 60 million rubles, of which 30% was sponsored by EkoNivaAgro.

‘I joined EkoNivaAgro a few years ago’, shares Vyacheslav Bakhirev, a cow handler. ‘After a couple of months in the company, I learned about the programme and decided to apply for it. I was surprised at how fast my application was approved. It was wonderful news for my family because we had not had our own house and had had to rent one. Now we are going to move to our own four-bedroom house, which comes with a 15-square metre plot of land. I’m so happy, I can hardly believe it!’

After signing tenancy agreements with the municipality, the programme participants received the keys to their new houses. In five years, they will be entitled to buy out the property from the municipality at ten percent of the initial value. If they do it after ten years of tenancy, the amountwill be reduced to 1 per cent. There is only one condition: the employees must continue working for EkoNivaAgro and living in the countryside during this time.

‘Participation in the Comprehensive Development of Rural Areas programme is a priority for EkoNivaAgro’, says Aleksandr Rybenko, Regional Director for Voronezh oblast. ‘We are planning to continue building accommodation for our employees. Thirty-eight new houses will shortly be ready in Bobrov district.’