More than 6,000 people have taken advantage of a new government initiative to help develop the economy in Russia's Far East by applying for a free hectare of land in region, according to Far East Development Deputy Minister Kirill Stepanov.
According to Stepanov, who made the announcement at the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s Pacific city of Vladivostok in early September, over 120 plots of land have already been transferred for use, and residents will receive another 250 plots in the near future.
"The law gives people a new degree of freedom," said Stepanov. "It is important that it has straightened all the bureaucratic corridors. A citizen gets land without coming into contact with the officials."
According to him, the time limit for the transfer of plots is around 16 to 25 days. This is sufficient to validate the application, make a decision on the transfer of a plot and determine that no one else has claims on the land.
However, all the procedures for allocation of land have to be developed from scratch; meaning the process is not quick. The relevant law only came into force in Russia on June 1, 2016.
Build a hotel, open an eco-village… or keep bees
Under the new law, the residents of the Far East may apply for a free hectare of land until February 2017, and thereafter the practice will spread to all the inhabitants of Russia.
Any citizen of the country will be able to get free land in the Far East, as long as the new plot is developed within five years. It is enough to open a company, to build a house or a hotel – then the land will be transferred to the ownership. If the plot remains undeveloped, then it will need to be returned to the state.
According to Stepanov, the owners of the first plots mainly plan to engage in agriculture, including beekeeping, but there are several projects to create ecovillages for the development of eco-tourism.
The new frontier.
For potential investors, the Far East Development Ministry has developed model business plans. For example, one of these plans involves investment of about 1 million rubles ($15,350) in the establishment of a strawberry-growing facility, with a payback period of less than a year.
According to Dmitry Afanasiev, chairman of the partner committee of the law firm Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners, Russia's Far East today has one of the most favorable tax conditions in the Asia-Pacific region. Profit tax in the Russian Far East is zero, whereas it is 10 percent in South Korea, 15 percent in China and 26.4 percent in Japan.…
4 comments:
Given global warming, the north of Russia will become suitable for agriculture. Good long term investment - perhaps for the grandchildren.
Plus it is beautiful country and close to both China and the US (Alaska).
There will be either a bridge or tunnel across the Bering Strait and Alaska and British Columbia will be affected positively by warming, too. Eventually there will be high speed rai linking Europe, Asia, North America and South America for transporting cargo primarily.
Bucky Fuller showed how to construct geodesic domes to create controlled biospheres so no reason to wait until warming is sufficient. Communications is no longer an issue. The big issue is transportation and that is already being addressed through the New Silk Road.
Huge opportunities are opening up there.
Regions that are far removed from the moderating influence of the ocean experience a large variation in temperature. The northerly latitude and the presence of the Himalayan plateau are additional factors that influence the climate.
There may be huge opportunities in Canada's north, yet we prefer to huddle near our southern border.
This is a map of how vegetation has changed from 1982-2015. Not that speculating on desert or tundra real estate is a good idea.
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