Return of occupied public lands to municipalities will lower habitation costs in Bashkiria

Return of the land plots occupied by speculators to the municipal property will promote decrease in residential construction costs in Ufa, the President of Bashkortostan Rustem Khamitov is sure.

“An apartment price depends on the land cost. If there is no land in the city then it is practically impossible to build cheap habitation,” the head of the republic said in a live television broadcast of BST channel on Wednesday. “In Ufa the situation with land is just catastrophic.”

According to the President, once speculators «using officials, using different structures — regulatory, law-enforcement authorities, by hook or by crook received for themselves this free of charge land, made rental contracts, did not pay for this rent and waited when the city would start to build». Thus it was occupied more than 200 land plots in Ufa.

Legal proceedings were initiated in the city for their return.

“We have already started to gain suits at law and to return large land plots to municipal property,” Rustem Khamitov said. “These land plots are offered for bidding, and bona fide builders, building companies buy them at reasonable price. Four auctions were held. Total profit received by Ufa was more than 400 million rbl. Five more such auctions to be held in the near future. And the next year there will be 15-20 auctions. The process goes in the right direction.”