A round-table meeting of the the Russian Parliament has concluded that Russian land reform legislation needs further clarification, particularly with regard to ownership, turnover and price.

According to Yegor Stroyev, Chairman of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament, the present version of the land code is very vague, particularly when defining private ownership, and "needs further clarification."

All the participants in the Kremlin meeting agreed Russia needed a state system for the management of land distribution and rigid control over land pricing.

"The system is needed to prevent land from falling into the hands of the mafia structures, major landowners from emerging and peasants from being robbed of their land," Mr Stroyev said.

Mr Stroyev estimated that it will take three months to finalise the land code.

President Yeltsin is chairing the conference on the highly controversial issue of land reform and privatisation in Russia.

Disputes began earlier this year, after Mr Yeltsin vetoed legislation passed by Parliament, which retained restrictions on land sales dating from the Communist era.

Parliament, which is currently dominated by opposition parties, is against the Government's plan to open the doors to the free sale and purchase of land.

The round-table meeting, attended by senior Government officials, MPs and regional leaders, is part of an attempt to find a compromise solution.

In theory, Russians already have the right to own and develop land

The debate about how much freedom the public should be given to own, buy and sell the country's vast tracts of territory has raged for centuries in Russia.

President Yeltsin is committed to changing Soviet policy dating from the communist era which contends that the state owns everything.

The new Russian constitution already gives people the theoretical right to own land. In practice, legislation spelling out the details has not yet been finalised.

Conservative MPs and regional governors have sought to block the sale of agricultural land, arguing that speculators will profit at the expense of farmers.

Some states have already put land reform proposals into practice

The Government counters that the country's troubled agricultural sector will only show growth if farmers are given the ability to take out private loans and attract investment.

While the political squabble in Moscow goes on, some parts of Russia have grown tired of waiting. Regions like Nizhny Novgorod and Izhevsk, have already begun experimenting with radical land reforms, while Saratov recently introduced its own legislation on the subject.
 

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