Starting July 1, 2023, Arctic hectares can be exchanged on the public services website if the first one does not suit the owner.

According to Yulia Tishchenko, head of the department for implementing the hectare program at the Far East and Arctic Development Corporation, the law regulating the program is constantly being updated, so a number of amendments have come into force on July 1 this year.

“One amendment will allow a citizen, without losing the right to a hectare, to refuse the first plot if it is not possible to use it for the desired purpose. After that, it will be possible to take possession of another plot. It is now also possible to submit an application and receive a draft agreement on the gratuitous use of a land plot and other documents via the public services site,” the corporation’s press service quotes Yulia Tishchenko as saying.

Also, the time limit for a citizen to sign a draft agreement for the gratuitous use of land increases from 30 to 60 days. At the same time, a new mechanism is being introduced that if a signed agreement is not received by the authorized body within 90 days, the agreement is nullified, and the land is returned to the common bank of land available for this purpose.

Ms Tishchenko clarified that during the implementation of the program since 2016, several thousand draft agreements have been completed but not returned with signature; this amendment will return a significant area of ​​land in demand to the program in early July, and other citizens will have the opportunity to apply for it. Tishchenko added that land plots that no one applied for under the “hectare amnesty” program or that no one register for will also be returned to the common bank. According to Tishchenko, in total, more than 10,000 hectares of land will be returned soon.

According to the corporation, more than 121,000 residents in the Far East and the Arctic received land under the Hectare program – land plots with a total area of ​​more than 81,100 hectares were provided for free use. Another 173.9 million hectares, including about 1 million hectares in the Arctic, are still available.