|  After
six hours of half-hearted debate, the State Duma approved a bill
in the crucial second reading allowing Russians to buy and sell
farmland and restricting foreigners to 49-year leases. Liberals
slammed the limitation on foreigners. The only protest from the
Communists, who oppose the sale of farmland altogether, came from
a crowd of about 200 people rallying outside the Duma building.
Most lawmakers appeared to be more interested in following two
World Cup soccer games that were being played, and the Duma hall
was all but empty during the debate.
The bill, which had the support of the four centrist factions
that make up the majority of the parliament, was quietly passed
245-150 with three abstentions.
"We have prepared a bill that creates a civilized turnover
of agricultural land," said Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the
pro-Kremlin Unity faction after the vote.
"We have protected our agriculture producer, the peasant.
Now we must wait and see how it will work."
Russia has 221 million hectares of farmland, 137 million hectares
of which has been privatized and is owned by 12 million citizens,
according to government statistics.
The 29-page bill approved Friday states that farmland must be
sold or leased at "market prices" or at prices determined
by an auction. The land must be used solely for farming.
A single person or company cannot have more than 10 percent
of the land in one region.
Plots can be confiscated by a court if they are used for purposes
other than farming or left abandoned.
If a plot is sold by an individual, the first right of purchase
belongs to the region or municipality, which effectively means
its renationalization. The state also has the right to buy a share
of commonly held land if other shareholders are not willing to
buy it.
Regions are left to decide the timing and procedures of sales
and minimal size of a plot.
Foreigners, people without citizenship and entities with more
than 50 percent foreign ownership can only take out leases on
farmland for up to 49 years.
If a Russian company buys land and later increases its foreign
ownership to more than 50 percent, it will be obliged to start
leasing the land.
Volodin hinted that foreigners may not always be limited to
leasing land. "We may come back to this issue in five or
six years, depending on how this law will be implemented, and
foreigners may get the right to own land," he said.
"But they must first prove that they have come as genuine
investors." Foreigners have insisted that the private ownership
of farmland is essential for investment. However, at least one
foreign company said Friday that it is satisfied with the bill
that allows only leases. "We at Heartland Farms believe the
correct way forward is to lease the land for a 49-year period
with the option to purchase the land after a designated period,
say five to seven years, and our project is structured around
this principal," said Colin Hinchley, director of the British-based
Heartland Farms, which plans to establish up to 80 British-run
farms in the Penza region in the next five years. "This allows
serious investors the security to develop the land and return
it to full production," he said, adding that it creates employment
and sales for support industries such as fuel, seeds, fertilizers,
agrichemicals, machine repairs and transport.
Volodin said the Duma could pass the farmland bill in a third
and final reading as early as this week. The Federation Council
must then pass the bill before President Vladimir Putin can sign
it into law. It would come into force six months after then being
published in the official Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
Aside from members of the four centrist factions Unity, Fatherland-All
Russia, Russia's Regions and People's Deputy, which lobbied hard
for farmland sales but insisted on limiting foreigners' rights,
no one seemed to be pleased with what was approved and the way
it was done.
"What is taking place now is not only the rudest violation
of law but also the preparation for battles over the division
of land in every region, especially in the southern regions,"
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said, breaking his silence after
the six-hour debate. The liberal Yabloko and Union of Right Forces
factions spoke against the amendment to the bill that puts limits
on foreigners, pointing out that the curbs were not included in
the government-backed version that passed in the first reading.
"Such an amendment shows investors that the authorities
in this country are dashing from back and forth and don't know
what they want," said Yabloko's deputy head Sergei Ivanenko.
The amendment was supported 366-6 with two abstentions. The
Communists tried several times to push through an amendment of
their own that banned companies with any foreign ownership from
buying land.
The head of the Duma's agriculture committee, Gennady Kulik,
who chaired the debate, retorted every time that approval of the
amendment would mean that a Russian farmer could not even be allowed
to include a U.S.-built John Deere combine in its charter capital.
The amendment was rejected after getting only 134 votes.
A dozen Kuban Cossacks wearing colorful black and red uniforms
and medals were sent to a hall where reporters were watching the
Duma session on television monitors. They napped during part of
the land debate but sprang to their feet when Kulik and the heads
of the centrist factions walked into the hall to give interviews
to the media at midday. One of them, who called himself Mitrich,
shouted at Kulik: "Were you born in Russia? Who decided to
sell Russian land? I came here to say it is unacceptable! You
democrats have already ruined collective farms!"
Viktor Protsko, a lawmaker in the Krasnodar regional legislative
assembly, complained that the Duma had not conducted a referendum
on farmland sales.
Kulik replied, "Please be quiet. No one is going to sell
community Cossack land. They will be held in common forever by
this law." Turning to Protsko, he said, "Look, you are
the one who allowed the sale of your own land. Half of the land
in your region has been sold off. Our [Duma Deputy Vladimir] Bryntsalov
has purchased two vineyards -- where have you been looking?"
The Communists promised to organize protests in the regions
in the near future.
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