A hundred million US dollars was invested in housing construction in Chechnya last year, with average construction costs at $400 a square meter. Major building companies are starting works in the devastated republic. When it gets on a required large-scale footing, housing construction promises 150,000 to 200,000 job opportunities.
Abramov quoted certain other facts and figures concerning social and economic developments in Chechnya. These were alarming statistics. Thus, the unemployed account for 70 per cent of the able-bodied population. The number of outpatient clinics makes a mere 20 per cent of the Russian average, and the number of doctors per thousand population a half.
Despite the republic's plight, its birth rate exceeded the death rate four-fold last year, the republican Premier added.
Federal Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov made a concluding address as the conferees were summing up their debates on Chechen social and economic rehabilitation. He highlighted numerous problems, and called to focus efforts and allocations on tackling them.
