Permanent registration in a state-owned apartments over time received the meaning close to that of property right.

Sometimes a state-owned apartment is taken away, sometimes a job or crucial identification papers.

The final package, approved after three days of debate, will raise rents on state-owned apartments by 35 percent starting Feb. 1.

Soviet regulations once limited households in state-owned apartments to 129 square feet of living space for each person.

Maria with one hand clutching her state-owned apartment, the other reaching out to her magasin.

So far only 37 percent of state-owned apartments have been privatized, city officials say.

The one area where substantial evidence has already been gathered, he said, is the distribution of state-owned apartments in Belgrade to friends of the family.

During the Soviet era, access to state-owned apartments was one of the most sought after privileges bestowed by the Communist elite.

Both suffered because their state-owned apartments were heated only four hours a day, and food and medicine were scarce.

A law enacted last year permitted Soviet citizens to buy their state-owned apartments, though few did so.