Lukashenko extends family capital program
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has extended the family capital program for the next five-year period (from 2025 to 2029). The head of state signed the decree on 30 October, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader.
The document expands the family capital terms to improve housing conditions. Thus, it grants the right to use family capital funds ahead of schedule for the construction of housing, regardless of the availability of appropriate referral paperwork from a local authority. Residential premises that do not meet the hygiene and technical requirements are not credited to the total size of housing owned by the family. The decree provides for the possibility of early use of funds to purchase a shares (stakes) in residential premises if the family already owns shares in these residential premises. It is also allowed to use family capital ahead of schedule to repay the loans issued on the basis of the agreements to refinance the loans for the construction, reconstruction and purchase of residential premises or shares (stakes) in the right of ownership to them.
The decree establishes for the first time the rights of children (including in the event of divorce of parents) to housing built or acquired with the use of family capital.
The decree establishes the possibility of paying for the next academic year when family capital is used for education (at present it is possible to use the funds to pay for the current and previous years). The document also expands the list of means intended for the social rehabilitation of disabled persons, which can be purchased using family capital funds.
The document grants the right to allocate family capital to foreign citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in Belarus if they acquire citizenship not later than one year after the birth (adoption) of the third and subsequent children.
The decree was adopted to help large families to improve their living conditions and to provide them with long-term state support.
As it was reported earlier, during a meeting with the Belarusian Women’s Union in March of this year, Aleksandr Lukashenko announced plans to extend the family capital program. The president noted that in 2015, when the program was launched, Belarus had about 63,000 large families. At present their number exceeds 120,000.
“We are addressing the most important matter. There is no more important matter than the growth of our population. We have problems with that. I often say that given our hardworking people and our resources we are capable of feeding 15 million or even 20 million considering our geopolitical location,” the president said. "I will gladly extend the family capital program. The only thing is to make sure that this money reaches the right people."