Andrey Kolesnikov’s report on how Vladimir Putin met with Arctic Mortgage recipients via video link

On December 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Arkhangelsk with the heads of the Arctic regions (which is almost half the country) and met with participants in the Arctic Mortgage program, with whom a special correspondent of Kommersant was impressed. Andrey Kolesnikov. His report is about what the Russian President will have to do during the election campaign that has essentially already started, and about the fact that the participants of the Northern Military District will soon be equated with the inhabitants of the Arctic.

Having flown to Arkhangelsk and consecrated with his presence the raising of naval flags on the nuclear submarine cruisers “Emperor Alexander III” and “Krasnoyarsk” (the phrase “Henceforth we will threaten the Swede”, which seemed to have lost its pragmatic meaning long ago, in the light of the new plans of the Swedish government to join NATO is acquiring a fresh sound), Vladimir Putin met via video link with the peaceful and happy recipients of the Arctic Mortgage.

“As I understand it, here, opposite me, on the screen are exactly those people, those families who were the first to receive preferential mortgages intended for the Arctic regions,” he told them. “Who would like to and who could (and this is not one and also.- A.K.) tell me… I just ask you to help me (prepare for a meeting with the heads of regions.— A.K.)…

But what did they tell him?

“My wife and I were the first to receive the Arctic Mortgage,” admitted Igor Berdnikov. “It was a big surprise for us!” We would like to say that our transaction went through without any hiccups; the bank employees worked out everything!

VTB employees sighed at that moment, I have no doubt, with great relief, especially since sitting next to the husband was his wife, who was not just nervously fiddling with a stuffed giraffe in her hands (and I was sure that by the end of the conversation she would definitely tear off his ear or horns) , but also constantly prompted him, and, unlike him, she clearly improvised. That is, she posed some danger to those around her (Vladimir Putin’s officials).

Yes, today was VTB day.

“We came to the branch of VTB Bank in the city of Arkhangelsk,” Mr. Berdnikov consistently explained. “Here we were immediately… taken to a separate room!.. Bank managers began to approach us!”

It was clear that this was the first time this had happened in Igor Berdnikov’s life.

“They had responsibilities distributed among themselves,” he shared his delight. “Someone was involved in electronic signatures (Emphasis on the letter “I”, so what.” A.K.), someone was working on paper forms of documents… There were no overlaps, everyone signed, everything was done quickly enough!

In his performance it was just blank verse.

“For about two hours…” the wife finally interjected loudly, slightly strangling the giraffe.

– Within two hours, yes! — the husband caught himself. “My family and I live in the city of Novodvinsk.” Here… The city itself is small. The apartment we purchased is, one might say, located in the city center, so we have everything within walking distance. But as for transport, perhaps we, residents of northern cities, where climatic conditions are more severe, would probably like to see warm stops… To take advantage of such benefits of civilization.

It was legal. You have to stand at such a stop once to understand how legal it is.

“The second point is the transport itself,” the husband continued. “It runs quite regularly, but there is a point that families with small children with strollers travel from Novodvinsk to Arkhangelsk…

“Like us, for example!..” the wife grabbed the giraffe’s horns.

A daughter appeared in the frame, who, in my opinion, looked with horror at her cruel mother. It seems that the girl still didn’t even suspect that she was like that.

— To them (that is, to them.— A.K.) you need space on the bus to put this very stroller,” the husband continued. “At the moment, there are minibuses in which this cannot be done, or quite large buses, but they only have seats, there are no areas for placing strollers. AND…

He hesitated – that’s all, his wife couldn’t stand it. She entered simply triumphantly:

— And the last stop from Novodvinsk to Arkhangelsk was very inconvenient!

Then the girl, who had disappeared from the frame, burst into it again, snatched the giraffe from the hands of her mother, who had lost her vigilance, who was diligently formulating the problem of stopping the president, and triumphantly walked away with the rescued giraffe. I also took a breath.

“The bus passes the most important stop in Arkhangelsk and stops far away,” meanwhile the wife was advancing, “that is, we need to return back to it!” The only thing is this…

“Now I’ll tell the governor, he’ll probably react…” Mr. Putin said, a little discouraged, I think.

It seems that he has not yet dealt with the problem of moving stops in Arkhangelsk.

However, the election campaign has already begun, so the combination locks on the entrances of houses will also have to be repaired.

“But these… shops…” Vladimir Putin recalled what it’s called. “Oh, well, if you live in the center, then everything is clear…”

“My wife and I have been living together for more than eight years,” said the next owner of the Arctic Mortgage, Alexander Shilov. “Since the wedding (he did not specify at what point we got married.” A.K.) we began to think about housing. Right now we are still living in rented housing, in a one-room apartment… We settled on choosing “Arctic Mortgage”. After discussing everything with my wife, we decided that it was suitable for us, since the interest rate was only two percent.

Two percent, Karl!

-You have a small child. How is the kindergarten and so on? – Mr. Putin asked.

“I would like to focus on the renovation of the community center in the city of Segezha,” the family owner said bluntly. “And the playgrounds could be brought into proper shape or some new ones could be installed.”

You can immediately see who is who in the family. The wife didn’t even try to get a word in. I understood: there is someone here to talk to the president.

“Okay, I’ll definitely talk to the head of the region,” Vladimir Putin generously promised. “Let’s hope that he will react… And I’ll see how it’s done (this phrase was decisive.” A.K.). Especially when it comes to playgrounds! It doesn’t cost anything at all! (well, yes, especially against the backdrop of today’s great affairs. One salvo of the Uragan system is much more expensive.— A.K.) I don’t know what the state of the cultural center is, but playgrounds can definitely be built.

But it looks like DK will be rashly put in order.

Everything was clear with the Yandulov family too. The husband was silent, the wife spoke. Such a hopeless family situation. And to be honest, I read it from a piece of paper.

— We moved to Norilsk seven years ago from the city of Yoshkar-Ola. My husband immediately got a job at the Oktyabrsky mine (that is, this courageous, silent man also plows at the mine.— A.K.), I also didn’t sit at home for a long time, I work as a hairdresser.

There are no questions at all for the hairdresser. Talking is not moving bags.

“They approved my mortgage right away,” said my wife.

“To me”! Based on this conversation with the president, it was possible to study the characteristics of gender stereotypes in family life.

– But while we were preparing the documents, we learned about the “Arctic Mortgage” at two percent… – She finally switched to “we”. – We decided to wait and wait for this program to come into force. And we waited. Hooray!

She carefully read everything, including “hurray!”, from the piece of paper. And rightly so: you can improvise this in a hairdresser.

But then there was a glitch.

– Limits… No, not that… – And she corrected herself. – There is still a lot of work ahead, a lot still needs to be invested…

Yes, the truth suddenly came out of her mouth.

But then, clutching his forehead (hand-face.— A.K.), she corrected herself by reading correctly:

– And a lot of effort needs to be invested! But with your support, Vladimir Vladimirovich, of our region and the city of Norilsk, we will cope with everything!

Now everything was like this.

But I really liked my husband:

“I work at the Oktyabrsky mine on a stable schedule,” he said, only slightly, glancing sideways at the piece of paper lying in front of him on the table. “My wife always has a lot of interesting ideas, which I support in everything.” I’m sure she will succeed.

He still doesn’t associate himself with her in that way.

I wanted to somehow cheer him up.

Finally, Ms. Yandulova could not resist and spoke to the previous speakers:

— And we have warm stops!

Mr. Cherepanov said that they took “a one-room apartment. I would like to take more, but for this I would really like the mortgage ceiling amount to be, for example, not six, but nine million, so that I could take a larger apartment. It’s still a bit cramped for four people in a one-room.”

Some (see above) also allow themselves to take three-room apartments, but now the person was honest: there is such a ceiling on this mortgage. Next is another bet.

That is, not everything is so rosy.

– Agree. This is a specific proposal for mortgage loans in the Arctic zone,” Mr. Putin nodded. “I think we will discuss it.” I agree with you, this is what needs to be done – we need to raise this bar, it is too low. You are absolutely right!

“Thank you,” another small Cherepanov said politely.

— All the best to you, happiness in your new home! — the president wished the Cherepanov family.

That is, four of us in a one-room apartment.

Olga Kurilova from the Murmansk region expressed a wish that can be considered the main one in the conversation:

— Our friends have moved – doctors. They also wanted to get an “Arctic Mortgage”, but they recently graduated from college, received an education, and their work experience does not allow them to apply for an “Arctic Mortgage” now. We would like to propose that the length of service for doctors to apply for an “Arctic mortgage” should be reduced… removed…

Then, at a meeting with the governors, one of these governors said precisely that teachers and doctors deserve to exclude the clause about the mandatory five-year work experience in the Arctic zone to receive such a loan. And at the meeting, Mr. Putin did not react to this request in any way.

But then he reacted:

— I agree… And of course, doctors are the category that we need in territories of this kind. You’re right. We will definitely discuss it with our colleagues now and I think we will come to this decision. So thank you and all the best in your new place.

But also teachers… Teachers too!

Alexandra Karpovich from Kirovsk (her husband, if anything, was not in the frame at all.— A.K.) said that the mortgage transaction was also done remotely.

“It was supervised by mortgage managers from Murmansk,” she vaguely clarified the intrigue. “We were in the office in Apatity… Everything was fine… The only thing… I have a friend’s husband who is a member of the SVO, and they also wanted to buy an apartment, using the “Arctic Mortgage” at two percent, but they do not qualify for age. They would really like it if they had some kind of separate category for SVO participants, where they could take advantage of such a program without age restrictions.

Everything that concerns the SVO touches Mr. Putin’s heartstrings. There was simply no doubt about it:

– This is generally a holy thing! — the president exclaimed. “We help the guys in so many areas.” I think this is just a technical oversight! I can say right away that we will do this. Exactly absolutely!

And then, at a meeting with regional heads, he spoke about this. Moreover, everything will apparently be broader than Alexandra Karpovich posed the question.

“I believe that it would be correct and fair to extend this program to participants in a special military operation…” suggested Mr. Putin. “Of course… First of all!.. Here we are sitting here, solving complex issues, necessary ones, but we are all -warm, you know, and safe, and the guys are there on the front line and in the mud, and under bullets, and under shells… We must never forget about this.

And it’s almost as cold there as in the Arctic.

Thus, the “Arctic Mortgage”, which is based on an incredible two percent, will most likely cover the NWO zone.

For employees of defense enterprises, Vladimir Putin promised to lift restrictions on receiving an “Arctic mortgage” based on age.

It’s a shame that the performing families are over. A little more, just half an hour, and all residents of the country would safely fall under the amazing mortgage.

Andrey Kolesnikov