What lands can foreign citizens and foreign companies acquire in the Russian Federation?
Land in the Russian Federation may be:
- Owned by citizens and legal entities (private property) (Article 15 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation);
- In state ownership (Article 16 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation);
- Owned by the Russian Federation (federal property) (Article 17 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation);
- Owned by constituent entities of the Russian Federation (Article 18 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation);
- In municipal ownership (Article 19 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation).
- And according to their intended purpose, lands are divided into the following categories (Article 7 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation):
- Agricultural land;
- Residential lands;
- Lands of industry, energy, transport, communications, radio broadcasting, television, computer science, lands for space activities, lands of defense, security and lands of other special purposes;
- Lands of specially protected areas and objects;
- Forest lands;
- Water fund lands;
- Reserve lands.
Clause 3 of Article 62 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation stipulates that foreign citizens and stateless persons enjoy rights in the Russian Federation and bear responsibilities on an equal basis with citizens of the Russian Federation, except in cases established by federal law or an international treaty of the Russian Federation.
Important!
That is, the acquisition of real estate (which includes land plots) by foreigners is not prohibited. However, there are certain restrictions.
Foreign citizens and persons without citizenship are provided with ownership of land plots exclusively for a fee (Clause 4, Article 39.4 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation). A foreigner cannot obtain land in Russia free of charge.
RESTRICTIONS REGARDING THE ACQUISITION OF LAND
Clause 3 of Article 15 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation determines that foreign citizens and foreign companies cannot have ownership of land plots located in border territories, the list of which is established by the President of the Russian Federation in accordance with federal legislation on the State Border of the Russian Federation, and in other established especially in the territories of the Russian Federation in accordance with federal laws.
This means that foreigners and foreign companies cannot purchase a land plot that is located on the near-border territory or within the boundaries of a seaport (clause 3 of article 15 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation, part 2 of article 28 of the Federal Law of November 8, 2007 No. 261 -FZ).
The list of near-border territories is determined by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 01/09/2011 No. 26 “On approval of the list of border territories in which foreign citizens, stateless persons and foreign legal entities cannot own land plots.”
Important!
A foreigner or a foreign company cannot purchase land in the Krasnodar Kray in the following municipalities: Yeisk district, Kanevsky district, Mostovsky district, Primorsko-Akhtarskiy district, Slavyansky district, Temryukskiy district, Tuapse district, Shcherbinovsky district, resort town of Anapa, Gelendzhik resort city, Novorossiysk city, Sochi resort city.
There are also restrictions in other legal provisions. Thus, foreigners can use agricultural land exclusively on a lease basis. The legislation on vegetable gardening and horticulture also establishes certain restrictions regarding the acquisition of ownership of a land plot.
Important!
Foreign citizens, foreign companies, stateless persons (persons without citizenship), as well as companies in the authorized capital of which the share of foreign citizens, foreign legal entities, stateless persons is more than 50%, may acquire agricultural land only on a lease basis, with the exception of cases provided for by Federal Law No. 119-FZ dated May 1, 2016 (Article 3 of Federal Law No. 101-FZ dated July 24, 2002 “On the turnover of agricultural land”).
But in practice this limitation can sometimes be circumvented. Thus, foreign companies and foreign citizens create companies (“subsidiaries”, “subsidiaries of subsidiaries”) in Russia and acquire land.
Also, restrictions on the acquisition of land plots are contained in the Federal Law of November 30, 1995 # 187-FZ “On the Continental Shelf of the Russian Federation” and the Law of the Russian Federation of February 21, 1992 No. 2395–1 “On Subsoil”, which established the procedure for using land plots continental shelf and subsoil.
The legislation of the Russian Federation prohibits the ownership of
- subsoil areas
- areas of the continental shelf
- forest areas
DUAL CITIZENSHIP, ONE OF WHICH IS RUSSIAN
The possibility of acquiring rights to land plots by persons with dual citizenship was considered by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation in Letter No. D02-7833 dated October 12, 2011. As follows from the explanations, persons with dual citizenship, one of which is Russian, cannot be limited in their rights and freedoms and are not exempt from the obligations arising from the citizenship of the Russian Federation, unless otherwise provided by an international treaty of the Russian Federation or federal law (clause 4 of Art. .7 Federal Law No. 99-FZ of May 24, 1999 “On the state policy of the Russian Federation towards compatriots abroad”). Thus, there is no prohibition for persons with dual citizenship to acquire ownership of land plots, with the exception of land plots that, in accordance with the Land Code of the Russian Federation and federal laws, cannot be privately owned.
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Land Ownership
