Page 17 - RusRPTJan23

issuing mortgage loans “at 0.1%”, in which the low rate is compensated by an increased price and an extended loan term (before the pandemic, the average was 19 years, now it is 25). In the third quarter of 2022, the share of mortgage sales from large developers reached 90%.
The Accounts Chamber spoke out against the extension of the preferential mortgage, pointing to the accelerated growth in prices for new buildings, due to which they become inaccessible in addition to benefits. The Central Bank has repeatedly spoken out against the extension of preferential mortgages, the last time was a week ago.
“We don’t have any market mortgage left at all in the primary market,” Ruslan Bulatov, deputy director of the banking regulation and analytics department of the Bank of Russia, said on December 9.
At the same time, he acknowledged that the abrupt closure of the program would be a strong blow to the market and that it should be phased out gradually. Elvira Nabiullina said back in October that the Central Bank was detecting signs of overheating in the market, and the Central Bank issued a separate report about the harmfulness of “interest-free mortgage” programs from developers. The government, however, believed that all measures to support demand, including preferential programs from developers, should be extended.
“The construction industry is addicted to preferential mortgages, and the longer you sit, the more painful it is to get off,” Ruslan Bulatov from the Central Bank stated last week. Now the validity of the needle has been extended for another year and a half, during which the prices for new buildings will continue to grow at a faster pace.
2.7 EU signs off on a watered down ninth package of sanctions, US targets more oligarchs
A watered down ninth package of sanctions against Russia was agreed at a late-night session of EU leaders on December 15 after very difficult discussions.
The package still needs to be formally adopted by EU foreign ministers, which is expected to happen by noon on December 16 and will come into force after it is published in the EU’s official journal.
The main thrust of the EU sanctions is to add another 200 people to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.
Talks in the EU have been stymied by a raging debate over what to do about Russian fertiliser exports. A debate on energy was dropped at the start, according to comments by the Hungarian delegation. Countries like Poland have been lobbying for the oil price cap to be dropped from the current compromise price of $60 – about $5 above what Russia is currently charging for its Urals blend oil – to a crushing $30, but countries such as Hungary, which
17 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com