The young families in the Transnistrian region can obtain budgetary loans at an interest rate of 1%. The subject was discussed at the last meeting of the Tiraspol Municipal Council, Info-Prim Neo’s correspondent reports. According to Alexandru Serba, president of the Tiraspol Municipal Council, the loans are repayable in five years. It is a state program aimed at minimizing the impact of the world economic crisis on the Transnistrian population, he said. “If the applicants want to purchase building materials, they will pledge the given construction. If they want to buy dwellings, they will pledge these dwellings,” Alexandru Serba said. In order to benefit from loans, the applicants must exhaustively explain to the administration how they intend to repay the loan. A sum of 500,000 rubles (609,700 lei) was earmarked for this project for Tiraspol in 2009. As many as 1,500 marriages are registered in Transnistria every year. One third of the couples are considered young families.