Meng called the region-leader in the implementation of the improvement program. Of Tatarstan on the results of 2017 has become a leader in the implementation of the priority project "Formation of a comfortable urban environment and housing", Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation Mikhail Men said to journalists at the RBC conference on Wednesday. "The Republic of Tatarstan has worked very well and I want to say that The Republic started dealing with the problems of urban development much earlier in their country. Therefore, we (the Ministry of Construction) took the principles of involving people in this process in the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as Bashkortostan and in many cities of the Moscow Region,"- Men said. Earlier, Men said that applications for participation in the competition for grants for the improvement of small towns and historical settlements of Russia, for which 5 billion rubles will be allocated from the federal budget, should be received by April 2018.