Aleksandr Lukashenko signs decree on rental housing for military

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has signed a decree “On rental housing for the military” that lays out the procedure and the terms for the transfer of ownership of rental housing to military personnel.

The document allows transferring such housing into ownership free of charge to the people who have been in military service for 25 calendar years. Those who have been in military service for 20 calendar years will be able to buy out this property in installments up to 15 years.

The decree also provides for additional social and legal guarantees for military personnel and their family members. For example, retired military personnel with 20 calendar years of military service, who do not want to purchase the rental housing they live in, will have the right to live there until they improve their living conditions. Family members of the military who died on duty will get the rental housing into ownership free of charge, regardless of the length of service. Family members of the military who died for other reasons during the period of military service will be able to use rental housing on the same terms until they improve their living conditions.

The decree applies to military personnel and persons equal to them serving in the Defense Ministry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Emergencies Ministry, the KGB, the State Border Committee, the Security Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus, the Operations and Analysis Center under the President of the Republic of Belarus, the State Control Committee, the central offices of the Investigative Committee and the State Forensic Examination Committee, as well as organizations included in the list of state bodies or bodies subordinate to them.

The decree comes into force three months after its official publication.