[CivilSoc] Russian Parliament Approves Limited Land Sales

[Center for Civil Society International]

This item comes from Johnson's Russia List
#5484
10 October 2001
davidjohnson@erols.com
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Russian House OK's Land Bill
October 10, 2001
MOSCOW (AP) - The upper house of Russia's parliament approved a bill
Wednesday permitting limited sales of land, a key development after a
decade of efforts by Russia's leadership to ease Soviet-era land sale
restrictions.
The bill was then to go to President Vladimir Putin, who was expected
to sign it. The Communists and their allies have opposed the measure.
The Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, approved the
new land code 103 votes to 29, with nine abstentions. The State Duma,
or lower house, voted 257 to 130 on Sept. 20 for the new land code in
the last of three readings.
Land purchases are currently regulated by many complex laws and
regulations approved by local legislatures. The absence of coherent
land legislation has also been a deterrent to foreign investors and
slowed Russia's economic development.
The code, which applies to sales of nonagricultural land, was
strongly pushed by Putin but faced stiff resistance from Communists
and their allies, who insisted the legislation would destroy Russia
by putting its land in the hands of foreigners and mobsters.
Most land remains government property, as it was during Soviet times
when Communist ideology demanded that the state own the means of
economic production.
Russia's 1993 constitution permits Russians to buy and sell land, but
parliament has balked at passing legislation that would put that
right into effect. This time the government was able to muster a
majority because the Duma is now dominated by pro-government parties.
Still, the government left the even more difficult issue of farmland
to a separate bill to be considered later.
It was not immediately clear how much land would be affected by the
new code, with official estimates varying from 3 to 10 percent. The
code would set up legal procedures for land sales, including a system
of registering deeds.