Konstantin Boytsov has commented to RBC Pro on the dispute over the seizure of land plots that reached the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
In 2020, the Administration of Saratov entered into an agreement with a local businessman on a seizure of five trade pavilions and a land under them into the city ownership. At the same time, the entrepreneur received six other land plots rather than a sum of money as compensation. However, in the spring of 2022, the First Deputy of the Prosecutor of the city filed a lawsuit with the Commercial Court of the Saratov Region to declare the agreement invalid due to the provision of preferences not stipulated in the law: according to the law, the entrepreneur should have received for the seized property its value, and if he wanted to rent land plots, there are appropriate competitive procedures for this. The position of the prosecutor’s office was shared by the courts of three instances, now the dispute is being considered by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
“The Land Code of the Russian Federation allows for the provision of publicly owned land plots for lease without tenders exclusively in substitution of land plots in respect of which there is a valid lease agreement. At the same time, the Land Code of the Russian Federation does not allow the conclusion of a lease agreement for a land plot after the adoption of a decision to withdraw it for state or municipal needs. Before the decision on withdrawal was made, the entrepreneur had only the right to conclude a lease agreements for land plots for the operation of real estate objects or their purchase into ownership, but it was not exercised. Thus, in this situation formally subject to payment of monetary compensation taking into account the potential rights to the land plots used, but not the provision of other plots in exchange without bidding,” commented Konstantin Boytsov, Counsel, Head of Real Estate & Construction practice at Maxima Legal, specially for RBC Pro.
To read the full article (in Russian), please, see RBC Pro website >>>>