RUSSIA: Russia stepped into the unfamiliar world of private farming when the lower house of parliament, the Duma, passed legislation yesterday burying the era of communist collectivisation and creating a free market in farmland.
RThe law regulating the sale of about 404 million hectares (1 billion acres) of agricultural land bars foreigners from ownership, restricting them to leases for a maximum of 49 years. It awaits only the formal endorsement of the upper chamber and President Putin.
Historically the issue of land ownership in Russia has caused revolutions, disasters and atrocities. But the Kremlin-backed bill sailed smoothly through the chamber yesterday, completing its third and final reading with a comfortable majority of 258 to 149 votes.
At least two-thirds of Russian farmland remains in the hands of the state or is formally owned by collective farms, a hangover from the communist era.
Agriculture is in critical condition, a huge drain on the budget, its yields and productivity less than a quarter of west European levels.
The land reform law is the latest example of Mr Putin's gradualist approach to the structural overhaul of the economy, and will provide no quick fix, given the scale of the crisis.
The Kremlin sees it as crucial to Russia's economic prospects and its integration into world economic trends. But the intensely divisive potential of the issue in a country with no living memory of sizeable private farming will make its implementation much trickier than its enactment. The communists in parliament and the farming lobby bitterly oppose all notions of a free market in farmland and have done much in the past 10 years to frustrate attempts to establish a land market.
So while Russia engaged in a chaotic and highly corrupt experiment in capitalism, free markets, and industrial asset-stripping through the 1990s, the farming sector remained bogged down in the past, the collective and state farms formally intact but, in terms of output, collapsing.
The new law leaves much power in the hands of the regional and local authorities which control the farmland, many of which oppose the legislation.
"What is taking place now is not only the crudest violation of the law, but also the preparation for battles over the division of land in every region, especially in the \ southern regions," the Communist leader, Mr Gennady Zyuganov, complained.
The local authorities are required to ensure that no more than 10 per cent of the farmland in their area falls into the hands of a single owner, and are given broad powers to define what constitutes farmland and decide whether it should continue to be used for farming or other purposes.
Mr Putin made it clear last week that he supported the restrictions on foreign purchases. Since provincial Russians translate "farmland for sale" into "the motherland for sale", he clearly calculated that letting foreigners buy farms could cost him votes and boost support for the communists.
Pro-market liberals complained that the restrictions on foreigners were meaningless, since anyone determined to own a slice of Russia could operate through Russian frontmen. This is true, but the foreigners' ban is a potent political signal that should help protect the Kremlin from criticism.
Last year Mr Putin pushed through legislation allowing non-agricultural land sales. The new law complements that, and helps to establish property rights and land ownership rights in Russia.
Conflicts for control of the soil have tormented Russia for 500 years, shaped the character and culture of the country and the people, and had a mostly baleful effect on development.
From medieval peasant uprisings to man-made famines in the 20th century, the issue has had a profound impact on its politics and economics. - (Guardian Service)