President chairs a meeting on improvement of land relations
On June 3, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on the issues of improving land relations.
The land is a national treasure. In recent years, the main attention has been paid to the rational use and protection of this resource, strengthening the rule of law in land relations. The openness and transparency of the land allocation procedure are increased, and bureaucratic obstacles are eliminated due to the introduction of information technologies.
However, there are still cases of theft, unauthorized seizure and illegal sale of land resources. The procedure for the allocation of non-agricultural and agricultural land is not transparent and is not the same for everyone.
The Head of the state criticized the shortcomings in this direction and emphasized the need for accelerating activities to transform the land into a market asset, determining its economic value and involving it in financial turnover, strengthening state and public control over the allocation and use of land.
“We have a very difficult issue on our agenda since the measures that are taken to ensure the rule of law in this area do not give a positive result. The land is the wealth that feeds people. We must completely change our attitude towards it”, said the Head of the state.
Proposals developed based on a study of the current situation and advanced foreign experience in land legislation were considered at the meeting.
In particular, the procedure for granting land to the private sector based on ownership and lease rights, and to state organizations based on the right of permanent use will be introduced.
The practice of allocating land, based on life-long inheritable tenure, permanent possession, temporary use, which does not meet the requirements of a market economy, will be discontinued, and the types of land rights will be reduced from 6 to 3.
A procedure for the sale of non-agricultural land to the private sector will be introduced only through an auction. Non-agricultural land can be sold into private ownership only to citizens and legal entities of Uzbekistan, and land that cannot be privatized is provided based on a lease right.
The practice of allocation, and direct and gratuitous provision of land to the non-state sector, will be canceled by the decision of the hokim.
The procedure for the provision of agricultural land will be introduced only on a lease basis. Such lands will be provided to citizens and organizations (except for foreign ones) based on an open tender. Acceptance of appeals for an open tender, collection and evaluation of information about the applicant will be carried out in the electronic form.
The powers of hokims of regions and districts to change the category of agricultural land are to be transferred to the Cabinet of Ministers and the President.
Issues of improving the mechanisms of control over land use were discussed at the meeting.
The right of hokims of districts to make decisions on the allocation and return of land will be completely abolished. All decisions of hokims of the region regarding land relations will undergo legal examination in the territorial departments of justice.
It is proposed to strengthen responsibility for land offenses.
The President focused on the need for ensuring the rule of law in the sphere and gave relevant instructions to officials.
