Not a hectare wasted. The Council of the Republic approved the draft law on land reclamation

Today, on October 7, at a meeting of the fifth session of the Council of the Republic of the eighth convocation, members of the Council of the Republic approved the draft law "On changing laws on land reclamation." The document is aimed at improving the efficiency of the use of reclaimed lands and their prompt involvement in full-fledged agricultural turnover.

At the meeting, it was noted that serious state funds are invested in land reclamation, and they should give maximum return. The President of Belarus has repeatedly returned to this topic. Land reclamation is a huge resource of our agriculture, and the key task is to ensure their highly efficient and sustainable use.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food, Yuri Gorlov, made a presentation on the bill and described the key innovations:

Along with the clarification of the conceptual apparatus at the legislative level, a monthly period is established for the involvement in the agricultural turnover of lands after the object is commissioned, on which reclamation measures were performed, when objects are commissioned in the autumn-winter period - at the onset of a favorable period, but not later than May next year.

- Non-involvement of land reclamation in agricultural turnover within the terms established by the draft law is recognized as non-use of the land plot and entails the imposition of a fine established by the Administrative Code in the amount of up to 10 basic values, for an individual entrepreneur - up to 25 basic values, for a legal entity - up to 50 basic values.

- The bill is aimed at implementing the instructions of the Head of State to ensure a prudent attitude to the land and strengthen the country's food security, he said.

According to the parliamentarian, the optimization of technological processes for land users is also among the important practical novelties: outdated restrictions on plowing of land along the canals are removed, provided that modern wide-capture equipment is used.

- This decision will allow to additionally introduce into economic circulation about twenty thousand hectares of fertile lands throughout the country, said Leonid Zayats. In addition, the powers of local executive committees are expanded and issues of maintenance of reclamation systems are regulated.

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