Way to Russia Talk Lounge

KinG GaLLOw · Just Starting Joined: 05 Oct 2004 Posts: 1

Ok. I am Glad to be a part of this Forum. Now I had one question. If I came to Russia for studies, on a Student Visa, can I own any property in Russia ? Can I register a Company on my name as a St. Petersburg registered local company, if I am on a Student Visa ?

Randy · Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:38 am Post subject:

King...
The last time I checked into this was about a year ago. I was told that no foreigner could own property unless they went into a joint venture with a Russian citizen. You can't start, or register a business there as sole owner, especially with just a student visa. I was told that I may be allowed to start a business only if I went through the very lengthy process to become a permanant resident, but still would not be permitted to own property. I read a few months ago in a local St.Pete newspaper that the govenor of the district was trying to save some old palaces, and was offering Russian citizenship to anyone who would buy them. Of course the catch was that the prospective buyer had to pay for the reconstruction of the buildings under the watchful eye's, and approval of the government. So, it seems that if you have more money than you can spend, you can buy property in Russia.

wavetossed · WayToRussified Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Posts: 337

I think that info is out of date. Foreigners can own property in Russia with only a few restrictions relating to land near the border, land near military or special installations, and agricultural land. That still leaves a lot of possibilities. Just don't try to buy a flat in Ozersk or 10 square miles of farmland and you shouldn't have problems. Some areas near St Petersburg will probably be off-limits because of the rule about borderlands, but that won't affect the city itself.

If you are a serious buyer then you will get better information from a St. Petersburg real estate agent than from this message board.

If you can read Russian, it is worthwhile using a search engine like Rambler to find the relevant laws and then read the text of the law itself. There are many legal websites that contain the complete text of all of Russia's laws including the infamous 115 FZ that affects foreigners. It's really all quite straightforward when you read the law text and it's a lot easier to understand than English language laws.

Randy · Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:43 pm Post subject:

Wavetossed,
Thanks for the information. I will check into the new developments in owning property. My original idea was to buy a dacha, with about 50 acres of land near Strelna. Last week it was confirmed through an attorney in St.Pete this was impossible because the place I wanted was considered farm land. It is always a good idea to go directly to the correct source when one needs legal answers.

uday · WayToRussified Joined: 26 Jul 2004 Posts: 323

Randy · Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2004 4:54 am Post subject:

$48,000 for the land, two story house with 6 bedrooms, workshop, barn, orchard, and it has a stream with fish....

wavetossed · WayToRussified Joined: 27 Jun 2004 Posts: 337

The law does allow foreigners to lease land for up to 49 years. This may sound like a strange thing to American ears, but it is common in parts of England, especially in London, for people to buy buildings but not own the land underneath them. In England this is called a leasehold sale because the buyer receives a lease on the land. If the lease expiry date is far enough in the future to meet your resale expecations, then there is nothing wrong with this.

In Canada, Canadian citizens are not allowed to own land on Indian reservations. But Indians can lease the land to other people and in some areas, substantial suburbs have been developped on land that is held under 99 year leases. There is a downside to this, since when the leases do expire there may be no guarantee that they will be renewed. However, if that date is sufficiently distant, this may not be a current concern. I know that near Vernon, British Columbia in Canada, there was an Indian reserve that threatened to not renew the 99 year leases. Similar posturing was done by Indians near Vancouver B.C. near Tsawassen but this kind of thing is usually done to get reasonable lease rates.

An enterprising individual who has done some research on the situation in British Columbia, Canada and in London England would be in a good position to team up with a Russian lawyer to develop the business of selling small rural plots of land to foreigners along with a 49-year lease. The Russian laws only provide the foundation, someone still needs to do some work on lease contracts to build up the framework to make this possible.

And if you think of doing this near Moscow, beware the water supplies. People have been building homes and other things in areas that are protected to keep the water supply clean. And now the government is tearing those buildings down. All because the buyers and sellers did not do their legal homework.

That's why I suggest a team approach. A native English speaker who can do the research working with a native Russian speaking lawyer who can work through the legal foundations and help craft the contractual framework. If you do a good job and understand the fears that led to the restrictions on ownership of foreign land, then you could build a framework that the legislators will accept and enshrine in legislation at some future date.

AMH · Just Starting Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 7

Just to confirm, foreigners can own property in Russia (as an individual). How helpful was your lawyer? if he was any good and could speak English please let me know!!!!