Many foreign companies and entrepreneurs in Russia to develop their business they need to buy or rent land - most often it is about agricultural or industrial land. In addition, quite often foreigners who live in the Russian Federation on a permanent basis or under long-term employment contracts, wish to have a suburban area.
Can foreign companies / citizens purchase land in Russia? What lands can become private property of foreigners? Are there any purchase restrictions? - we will answer these and other questions in our article.
Before talking about buying Russian land by foreigners / foreign companies, let's understand what types of land plots exist in Russia and whose property they may be.
According to the Russian legislation land may be owned by:
- Citizens and legal entities (private property)
- State (state property)
- Russian Federation (federal property)
- Subjects of the Russian Federation
- Municipalities (municipal property)
And according to their intended purpose, the lands are subdivided into:
- agricultural land
- lands of settlements
- lands for industry, energy, transport, communications, radio broadcasting, television, lands for space activities, lands for defense, security and other special purposes
- lands of specially protected areas and objects
- forest land
- land of the water fund
- reserve lands
Unlike most countries where the purchase of land by foreigners is prohibited (exceptions are only for companies with foreign capital), in Russia foreign citizens can acquire land in their ownership, but with some restrictions:
- Land can only be provided on a paid basis. Free use of land for foreigners is prohibited
- Foreigners and foreign companies cannot own land that is located in the border area or within the seaport
- Agricultural land can be rented only
- The legislation of the Russian Federation prohibits the ownership of subsoil plots, areas of the continental shelf, plots of forest resources.
- A foreigner cannot get ownership of a "dacha".
In all other cases, the purchase of Russian land by a foreign citizen or by a foreign company is permitted.
Attention: persons with dual citizenship, one of which is the citizenship of the Russian Federation, are exempt from the above restrictions and can freely acquire land ownership, with the exception of land plots, which, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation, cannot be privately owned
There is also a practice of circumventing these restrictions by opening a subsidiary in Russia. Qualified lawyers of the RAUIE will advise you absolutely free of charge on any issues related to the purchase and lease of land in Russia.
If you have questions or need advice on purchase or rent land in Russia, you can leave a request in the feedback form or contact our specialists:
Maxim Kuznetsov - vice-president of the RAUIE
investment@raspp.ru
WeChat: maximkuznetsov
