RUSSIA. 400 billion roubles for the gas bonus

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On 31 August, news appeared in Russian newspapers that the premier of the Federation, Vladimir Putin, had instructed the government to allocate 400 billion roubles to subsidise ‘social gasification’ throughout Russia.

But what is this all about? It was explained on two September by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who positively assessed the Moscow region’s experience in providing social support measures for certain categories of citizens. This is the ‘Social Gasification’ project: ‘Regions with good budget security are able to provide more benefits, while, of course, we understand that regions with low budget security are not able to allocate sufficient funds. As a positive example, I would cite the Moscow region,” the deputy premier said in an interview, “where the categories of beneficiaries are defined to the maximum extent and adequate funds are allocated,” Novak said.

Also in the same interview, Novak reported who is entitled to benefits for social gasification of a private home in the Moscow region: families with a certificate for the regional capital; citizens who are owners (family members of the owner); citizens who have residence in a house subject to gasification, including: families receiving family allowances in accordance with the article; ‘On social support measures for families and children in the Moscow region’; families consisting of pension-holding citizens, with an average per capita income not exceeding the subsistence level; citizens living alone, receiving a pension, with an income not exceeding the subsistence level; certain categories of citizens, including: domestic workers, participants and widows of participants in the Second World War, prisoners, residents of besieged Leningrad and besieged Sevastopol.

And on the benefits themselves. They are entitled to compensation equal to 100% of the cost of work performed: capital construction to the gas distribution network; designing a gas consumption network; for the installation of internal gas equipment, except for an automatic gas alarm; installation of a gas meter; for the construction or reconstruction of an internal gas pipeline; payment for the purchase of internal gas equipment, a gas meter and the installation of an automatic gas alarm within the framework of a global agreement (but not more than 80,085 roubles); for the connection of equipment and facilities using gas.

And finally, households with a regional maternity capital certificate will receive two compensations: 50,000 roubles in 2022 and the same amount in 2023. In Moscow, the application for social gasification on favourable terms can be submitted online via the personal account on the Mosoblgaz website or at the offices of Social Gasification.

Within 30 days, Mosoblgaz specialists, together with the Ministry of Social Development of the Moscow Region, will consider the application in the prescribed manner and contact the applicant.

Graziella Giangiulio