LITTLE PROGRESS IN COMPENSATION PAYMENTS

An October 29 article by Said Bitsoev in Novye izvestia noted the excruciatingly slow rate of progress in what is supposed to be one of Putin’s and Kadyrov’s top priorities: the payment of monetary compensation to families whose homes have been destroyed by the two Chechen wars. Bitsoev found that the Kadyrov administration still does not have lists of those who are eligible for compensation. Preliminary lists posted in front of the building of the compensation committee in Grozny are not organized by district, address, or even alphabetical order. This has created, in Bitsoev’s words, “the impression that they have been deliberately compiled in such a form as to postpone forever the chance for people to receive compensation for their lost homes.”

During the last month, only 150 families have actually received compensation; documents for another ninety have been processed and presented to banks, for a total of 240 families. “If the payments continue at the same rate,” observed Bitsoev, “then even in the best-case scenario–no interruptions in the flow of subsidies, no further delays and minimal embezzling by bureaucrats–full restoration will take at least another thirty years.”