February 4, 2014. The international company NAI Becar came up with a rating of largest projects on satellite towns in Russia. Academic District of Yekaterinburg came second, only preceded by Moscow's A101, RBC reports.

Analysts also report that housing sales in Academic are now at their all-time high, which has to do with the fact that the district is nearly complete, is integrated into existing facilities, and has developed infrastructure.

Among the top ten projects were the ones with the total housing area of 40m sq m and expected number of residents of 1.2m people.

'There are currently 22 satellite towns in Russia. These projects are often not about satellite towns in the direct sense of the word, these are more like new residential districts that are quite comparable with full-fledged towns that are integrated into a metropolis,' says NAI Becar Deputy Director for Consulting & Assessment in Moscow Anna Danchenok.

Nearly all such projects are currently being implemented within the framework of federally funded special purpose programs and with support from the national and local authorities as well as through PPP investments.

Housing prices are always lower than the relative minimum cost of housing in existing satellite towns. Prices per square meter start from 28,000 RUR, NAI Becar reports.