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Russian Region Construction Minister Ordered to Camp in Unfinished Building

To pressure the local housing authority into resolving a backlog of construction delays, the head of Russia's Komi republic has ordered his senior construction official to set up camp in an unfinished residential building, independent Ekho Moskvy radio reported Wednesday.

The Komi republic's acting governor Sergei Gaplikov told a regional deputy construction minister, Nikolai Soroka, to grab a camping cot and stay in an unfinished building until he delivers on a resettlement project to provide emergency housing, the report said.

At a meeting with local officials, Gaplikov criticized the local construction authorities for having fallen behind schedule on the 2.5 billion ruble ($39.6 million) housing program, for which Soroka is responsible, Ekho Moskvy reported.

Soroka is to live and work in an unfinished building in the industrial town of Ukhta, where delays in implementing the housing program have been particularly severe, local KomiInform news portal reported Tuesday.

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