Russian audit exposes corruption and delays in emergency housing relocations
At the initiative of the head of the Republic of Komi, the Accounts Chamber audited the legality and efficiency of funds allocated from the republic's budget to Kortkeros District for the implementation of the 2024 phase of the targeted republican program "Relocation of Citizens from Emergency Housing (2019–2025)" under the regional project "Ensuring the Sustainable Reduction of Uninhabitable Housing Stock."
In 2024, Kortkeros District carried out Phase V (the 2023 stage) of the republican relocation program. Additionally, activities from Phase IV (the 2022 stage) continued, including the settlement of contracts from 2022–2023 and the transfer of previously purchased housing to citizens.
A total of 186.8 million rubles (including carryover funds from previous periods) was spent on emergency housing relocation in 2024, with 160.8 million rubles provided by the Housing and Utilities Reform Support Fund, 24.2 million rubles from the republican budget, and 1.8 million rubles from the local budget.
Relocation was conducted by purchasing housing from developers—both in under-construction and completed buildings—for subsequent provision to citizens under social tenancy agreements, as well as by compensating owners for expropriated properties.
Under Phase V, authorities planned to relocate 208 residents from 84 apartments in 32 multi-unit buildings—deemed emergency and slated for demolition before January 1, 2017—with a total area of 3,600 square meters.
As of February 4, 2025, the district administration had successfully relocated 173 people. Due to unforeseen circumstances—such as missing contact information, residents refusing social tenancy agreements, ongoing legal disputes, and other issues—35 individuals remained unrelocated.
An audit by the Accounts Chamber has revealed the following findings:
— As of January 1, 2025, contracts for the purchase of residential units and agreements for the buyout of housing from owners have been fully paid. However, in 27 out of 29 contracts, the handover of apartments was delayed by between 3 and 340 days.
— Acceptance of apartments from suppliers was carried out by a commission that did not meet the required composition standards.
— Some apartments were accepted and paid for without a positive expert assessment of the completed work (or commission approval). The Accounts Chamber notes that final payments under contracts—made without sufficient justification, including cases where suppliers failed to rectify defects in the housing—pose corruption risks.
— Inspections of purchased apartments revealed that some did not fully comply with the terms of municipal contracts or current technical regulations.
— Budget funds totaling 26.9 million rubles were found to have been misused in the relocation of residents from apartment buildings that, as of January 1, 2017, had not been officially declared emergency housing slated for demolition yet were unjustifiably included in the resettlement program.
— Subsidy funds were spent inefficiently due to the administration's purchase of housing with a total area exceeding that of the emergency housing, as well as in the enforcement of court rulings that did not account for certain provisions of Russia's Housing Code. The excess expenditure of budget funds in these cases amounted to 5.4 million rubles.
— Apartments with a total area smaller than contractually specified were unjustifiably accepted and paid for, resulting in negative financial consequences for the budget totaling 511,800 rubles, which must be recovered from the supplier.
— The use of 84.7 million rubles in subsidies to purchase 31 apartments was deemed ineffective, as these units remained unassigned to citizens as replacement housing for over a year due to various reasons. The prolonged vacancy of these apartments has led to additional municipal budget expenditures on utilities.
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