A law to adjust the land grant program in the Arctic and other regions in the North, Siberia and the Far East has been signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier, the relevant draft law was submitted to the State Duma. It allows for information on the designation of land plots for use in the land grant program to be available through the federal information system, “To the Far East.” The law on the specific details of granting land plots which are under state or municipal ownership and that are located in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation and other regions in the North, Siberia and the Far East is being amended.

According to the draft law’s explanatory notes, the information system is to allow the authorized body to inform an individual if he/she is eligible to apply for ownership or lease of the land plot that he/she is using for free under the law before the expiration of the contract for free use, as well as about the expiration date of the contract.

The law also establishes a period after which the contract for the free use of a land plot is recognized as not concluded. This is applicable if within 90 days of the issuance of a draft contract to the grantee, the applicant does not return the signed contract to the authorized body.

Thus, the contract for the free use of land ceases to be valid from the date the authorized body decides to grant the land plot to the applicant under a free ownership agreement or conclude a contract for the sale or lease of the land plot.

The amendments extend the period when the land holder can choose the type of permitted land use from one to two years. In addition, the authorized body has the right to designate land plots for this purpose through a simplified procedure using the federal information system.