Growing intensity of municipal land sales

On June 16 submissions for sale and rent of 440 municipal land holdings will be completed. Approximately half of the revenue of the local government budgets in Azerbaijan is formed through the sale of municipally owned land.

Still the most active in terms of preparation for the sale of land are the municipalities of Absheron district. According to the State Land and Cartography Committee (SCLC), they offered 214 land plots for the construction of individual housing, business, and agricultural operations. Thus all the land put up for sale by tender, which provides for expression of candidate proposals in a sealed envelope. Several municipalities in the Guba district sell 39 land plots through open auction.

The municipality of Pirakeshkul - Gobustan ( Absheron ) put up for sale 7 land plots totaling 21.29 hectares. The initial cost is set at 275,700 manat, or 44 % higher than the normative value.

Azerbaijan land contests are of formal nature and the auction is attended by predetermined persons who buy or lease in land at a starting price.

Deputy Chairman of Public Association Promoting Economic Initiatives Rovshan Agayev told Turan, in Azerbaijan since 2007 municipalities are prohibited to independently sell their own land: the sale is arranged by the Commission by tender or auction. The Commission is formed by the SCLC. State law has deprived local authorities from the main sources of local budgets. Municipalities are going to buy the land - the only thing that they have - as a necessary step. "As for the municipality's use of land for commercial and business purposes, they are deprived of concession lending from the state. A mechanism for attracting investment by municipalities through the issuance of securities is not flexible enough," said the expert.

Many municipalities have sold land reserve fund several years ago. These municipalities exist due to meager subsidies from the state budget (1,000 manat per annum) and land tax on individuals. 08B-0 -