The Russian State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill easing regulatory controls over expropriation of land plots (agricultural land) in case of its improper use. Besides, the first claim of the Ministry of Property Relations of the Moscow region for such expropriation of land plots was registered. This issue is of high priority for many developers who purchase agricultural lands intending to alter the designated purpose of the land plot to industrial lands. Due to the new trend their risks significantly increase in the transition period.

Firstly, the bill proposes to reduce the term until expropriation of the land plots to two years, including the land reclamation period. Public authorities are now obliged at risk of penalties to take the cases of expropriation of land plots promptly to court, while the assessment period of the improper use of the land plots is reduced from 3 years to 1 year.

Alongside with the adoption of the bill, the Ministry of Property Relations of the Moscow region filed the first claim on compulsory expropriation of a land plot in view of its improper use as agricultural land.

The changes under consideration directly affect the developers who purchase the agricultural lands intending to alter the designated purpose of the land plot to industrial lands or another category. According to the data provided in the explanatory note to the bill dated January 1, 2014, out of 200 million hectares of agricultural lands in Russia about 20-25 million hectares are used by natural and legal entities improperly.