The draft law on electronic land auctions will reduce the level of corruption in the land market

The draft law No. 2195 that proposes the introduction of e-auctions for sales of land plots in the state and communal ownership will significantly reduce corruption risks in the land market.  This is mentioned in the analytical review to the draft law produced by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (the NACP). The draft Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2020–2024 establishes that free privatization of state and communal lands is the biggest source of corruption in land relations, contrary to purchase of lands at electronic auctions. Thus, in order to ensure transparency of the land market, it is important to ensure clear rules for sale of land plots or titles thereto by law. The draft law No. 2195, according to the authors, provides for an updated procedure for the sale of lands in state and communal ownership in the electronic trading system, which is an important step to minimize prevalent corruption practices, transparent and efficient use and disposal of lands. The detailed NACP analytical review is available at: https://bit.ly/3npx2sD. At the same time, the NACP proposes that the drafters of the bill eliminate the following factors that may contribute to corrupt practices:

• regulation of the procedure for holding auctions with help of by-laws;
• lack of coordination between individual provisions of the draft law regarding the preemptive right of the lessee to purchase land;
• lack of deadlines for submission of documents for participation in land auctions.

In the event that the draft law No. 2195 is adopted, taking into account the recommendations of the NACP, the document will become an important step to minimize prevalent corruption practices in the land market.