Translated material
Omsk land is not for sale
Residents are asked to vote for this in a referendum
An initiative group has been created in Omsk to hold a referendum on the purchase and sale of land. This was reported to your correspondent by Alexander Kushnarev, chairman of the regional election commission, where the necessary documents have already been transferred. It is proposed to bring up the question for discussion: “Do you agree that in the Omsk region agricultural lands, lands of specially protected areas, lands of local and water funds cannot be objects of sale and purchase?”Kushnarev is studying the documents and will decide one of these days whether to hold a referendum or not. However, the approval of the election commission alone is not enough: to carry out the action, the initiators must either collect 50 thousand signatures, or persuade the governor to make such a proposal to the deputies, or directly enlist the support of the majority of parliamentarians.
In terms of the adoption of legal acts limiting turnover on the land market, the Omsk region is ahead of other regions. Several years ago, the local legislative assembly was the first in the country to pass a law on the confiscation of land plots from ineffective owners. According to the chairman of the legislative assembly, Vladimir Varnavsky, this law was not a step back along the path of land reform, but, on the contrary, stimulated “rational use of natural resources.” Because if a landowner does not use his plot for two years, he is given a warning and is fined. If even after this the private owner does not come to his senses, the authorities deprive him of his property rights.
A commission is organized in the district land committee, which carries out the seizure. Through the courts, a forced redemption is issued in relation to the disputed plot, after which the amount for which he once bought the plot is transferred to his bank account. (If the farmer simply rented the land, then it is confiscated even faster, without paying compensation.) To date, more than 3 thousand plots with a total area of 18 thousand square meters have been confiscated in this way. km.
The initiators of the referendum, deputies of the State Duma and local authorities, are starting it clearly with the goal of achieving a ban on the free purchase and sale of land. Governor Leonid Polezhaev adheres to the same position: “In the Saratov region, even with a meager land turnover, the system of farm labor has taken root. Is this what we want for the Omsk village? Not a single land reform has brought any good to Russia, starting with the one carried out by Alexander II and ending with the one that Mr. Gref is preparing for us!”