OREANDA-NEWS. December 31, 2013. Sviaz-Bank’s mortgage portfolio under its Military Mortgage program has topped 20 billion rubles, or over 15% of the total military mortgage market in Russia (as reported by the Russian Military Mortgage Federal State Lending Institution, or FSLI).

The mortgage program takes up the biggest share of the Bank’s retail loan portfolio, or over 44% of its total loan portfolio.

A significant boost to mortgages has been given by the launch of a new home lending program designed for servicemen and by an increase in the number of developer partners.

In the first quarter of this year, the Bank started issuing military mortgages for the purchase of apartments under construction, and by now, the list of new home development projects in Moscow, Moscow Region, Krasnodar, Blagoveshchensk, Chita, Rostov on Don, and Kaliningrad has risen to 39. The Bank’s partners include the Morton Group of Companies, Augur Estate OJSC, Lider Federal Construction Company, and Lexicon Development, among other major participants of the housing construction market.

Cooperation between the Russia Military Mortgage FSLI has kept the interest rate on Military Mortgage loans at 11.3% per annum in Russian rubles at the construction stage, and 10.5% upon completion of construction. Servicemen who are Mortgage Accrual System (MAS) members may take out a mortgage from the Bank for a period of up to 20 years.

Between early 2011, when Sviaz-Bank rolled out its Military Mortgage program, and now, more than 10,000 servicemen have purchased real property with funds borrowed on mortgage loans from Sviaz-Bank