Tougher Penalties for Improper Use of Land

Azerbaijan tightens penalties for improper use of agricultural land destination. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on October 30 the application of the law "On Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences", according to which defined penalties for the misuse of land and farmland. The penalty provides for the application of sanctions for violations of property, rent and user rights to land.

From now on, according to article 88-1.1, violation of the misuse of land will be punished with fines: for individuals 300 manat, officials - AZN 600 and legal entities - AZN 3,000

For land use, not appropriate for the intended purpose, with respect to natural persons will be applied a fine of 500 manat, officials - AZN 1,000 and legal entities - AZN 5,000. "

For improper use of agricultural land under Article 88-1.2, a fine will be imposed: for individuals - 500 manat, officials – 1,000 manat and legal entities - 5,000 manat.

The law was adopted by parliament on September 30. The President sent the proposed amendments to the Code of Administrative Law in May this year.

Earlier, the chairman of the NGO "Assistance to Economic Initiatives" Azer Mehdiyev noted that it is necessary to distinguish between the concept of misuse of agricultural land. Often farmers can not cultivate the land due to lack of funds or having problems with sales and bear the loss, which leads to the suspension of the use of land. Use this wealthy people are buying the land. Now, after the entry into force of the amendments, this process can take a broader scope, as smallholders will be forced to abandon their uncultivated areas under threat of sanctions.

Land privatization began in Azerbaijan in 1996. In the country, there were 4,757.2 thousand hectares of agricultural land, of which only 1,392.0 thousand hectares, or 29.2% was transferred to the peasants. At the time of the reform, there were 870 thousand peasant farmsteads, each of which had an average of 1.6 hectares of land that could not ensure the profitability of production. And this was at a time when the rest of the agricultural land on the strange logic remained for the state and municipalities. Subsequently, they are often handed down to high officials who actually have become big landowners. Latifundia were characteristic of Ancient Rome and Latin America during the colonial period.

In Azerbaijan, after the land reform has been a sharp outflow of population in the city and outside the country because of the loss of collective (cooperative) lands as the primary source of income. And agriculture went into decline, especially in the production of cotton, food grains, tea, vegetables, and fruits. According to official figures, has sharply increased the area of ​​land subject to erosion. Only in the Kur-Araz lowland 500 thousand ha are subjected to erosion of soil salinity. Another problem with the expansion of erosion is chaotic and irrational development of animal husbandry. Restoring vegetation in pastures has not kept pace with the growth of consumption of livestock, especially sheep. -0-