Vitebsk Regional Property Committee: As of November 20, amendments to the legislation on state property lease come into force

The Committee for State Property of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informs that amendments to the legislation on the lease of state property will come into force on November 20.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No. 138, which adjusts the procedure for using property and determining the rental rate when leasing it out.

The decree applies not only to state property but also to the property of joint-stock companies with a state share in their authorized capital exceeding 50%.

The adopted Decree provides a number of new opportunities:

now retail spaces can be leased to domestic producers without holding auction tenders and with the application of a coefficient less than 1;
when leasing production facilities, a reducing coefficient of 0.5 has been introduced – the benefit was introduced at the suggestion of businesses with the aim of reducing production costs;
the list of legal entities that do not reimburse the costs associated with the maintenance of property transferred to them free of charge has been clarified;
the obligation of business entities to provide property for gratuitous use is removed, except for transfers to state bodies;
among the innovations is the establishment of a ban on participation in auctions for the sale of the right to conclude a lease agreement for persons whose actions led to the disruption of previously held auctions;

the concept of "periodic lease" has emerged, where an object is leased for specific hours, and during other times, the object is used by the balance holder or leased to another tenant;

the possibility of applying a reduction factor of 0.4 to tenants providing a range of household services. The list of such services is established by district and city executive committees. This will allow for the application of a reduction factor depending on which household service is most in demand in a particular territory;

the possibility of applying a reduction factor of 0.1 to base rates for areas to organizations employing 30% disabled individuals. This will expand opportunities for people with disabilities to exercise their right to work.

The adoption of Decree No. 138 is aimed at developing small and medium-sized businesses, improving lease relations, and increasing the efficiency of state property utilization.

Currently, approximately one thousand state-owned premises, or premises owned by organizations with state participation in their charter capital, are offered for rent in the Vitebsk region.

Numerous vacant premises can also be found in Vitebsk itself.

One of the new facilities that may be of significant interest is the former non-food store premises on 39th Army Street in Vitebsk, located opposite the Monolit radio components plant.

The former store premises have an area of over 1000 sq.m., making it one of the largest unused premises offered for rent in Vitebsk.

It may be of interest not only for opening a retail outlet but also for conducting business activities in the service sector.

For instance, in accordance with the legislation, the rental fee may be reduced by 60% if a sewing and repair workshop for clothing, fur, and leather goods, or a laundry, dry cleaner, hairdresser, shoe repair shop, or radio electronic equipment repair shop is opened.

Among the properties offered for rent are also objects with the status of historical and cultural value.

Such an object includes a retail building located on Lenin Street, near a public transport stop, opposite the Smolensk Market. Previously, this building housed a store selling household chemicals, perfumes, and cosmetics.

This property is part of the historical "Lenin Street development of the late 19th – early 20th century" and holds the third category of historical and cultural value.

The rental fee is set at 1124 rubles per month. Depending on the planned type of activity, additional reducing and increasing coefficients may apply.

All properties offered for rent can be viewed online in the unified information database of unused property of the State Property Committee of the Republic of Belarus (https://au.nca.by/).

If desired, a tenant currently has two ways to purchase leased state property without holding auction bidding.

The first method is the purchase of property leased for more than 3 years by a bona fide tenant who has no violations in fulfilling the terms of the lease agreement.

In the current year, 11 leased premises in the Vitebsk region were purchased in this manner for over 500 thousand rubles.

This year, another option for purchasing leased property has emerged – concluding a lease agreement with the right of subsequent purchase. In this case, the tenant can become the owner of the leased property within one year of the lease.

You can learn more about Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 138 by following the link: https://president.gov.by/bucket/assets/uploads/documents/2023/138uk.pdf

Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by