The pillar of capitalism has finally arrived in Russia.The legal right to own land
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:52 p.m. ET
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.
