Wednesday, June 29, the Federation Council will consider 7 bills on the use and protection of lands of agricultural purpose, said the first Vice-speaker of Council of Federation Nikolay Fedorov at the meeting of the Board on agriculture and natural resources at the upper house of Parliament.

So, will consider the bill on withdrawal of plots of agricultural land used for other purposes. The bill provides a reduction from five to three years the period after which the land plot could be confiscated from the owner in case of non-use for agricultural production.

The problem is really relevant. According to the agriculture Ministry, in 2014 the area of agricultural land in Russia was 386,5 million hectares. While not used for the intended purpose about 20 million hectares of such lands belonging to legal entities and citizens.

Also on 29 June, the Federation Council will consider a bill on granting land plots in state or municipal ownership of property to citizens and legal entities without competitive bidding on improvements to land control and others.

"Today it is necessary to create effective mechanisms for sustainable land management. You also need to strengthen the responsibility of land users for damage to the land and destroying its fertility", — said the first Vice-the speaker Nikolay Fedorov.

Special attention should be paid to the protection of particularly valuable agricultural land, he said. In this regard, the meeting recommended that the subjects of the Russian Federation to approve the lists of especially valuable agricultural land. Another relevant issue is the effective management of land resources.

"Today is annually withdrawn from the agricultural turnover up to 1 million hectares of agricultural land," — said Deputy Minister of agriculture of Victoria Abramchenko. At the same time, she recalled that the President set the task by 2020 to fully provide our domestic market the Russian food and become the largest supplier of environmentally friendly agricultural products.
The meeting participants recommended the Government to set a minimum term lease of land for agricultural purposes depending on the activity type, set the maximum size of the area of land within the same municipal area that may be owned by a citizen or legal entity, and other measures.