Russia plans to simplify agricultural land turnover

The State Duma adopted a draft law providing for amendments to the federal law “On the circulation of agricultural land.” It was proposed with the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Moscow region.

The bill improves the mechanism for the seizure of land due to its improper use for its intended purpose. The current legislation allows the use of the procedure for the forced withdrawal of land plots.

“One of the main difficulties is the change of the owner of the site even before the state body goes to court. If the owner does not eliminate the violations within the prescribed period, the new law prohibits any transactions with the site,” said Georgy Filimonov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Moscow region.

According to the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), over 11 thousand unused land plots were identified in 2021-2022. They are overgrown with weeds, trees, and shrubs and are not used for their intended purpose.

Another difficulty in removing such areas is the duration of the procedure. Previously, the term for the withdrawal of a land plot often took more than three years. According to the new law, it will be about eight months, including the judicial procedure.

The new bill makes it possible to return unused land plots to circulation more quickly.