Vitebsk Regional Property Committee: As of November 20, changes in legislation regarding the lease of state property 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:

• retail space can now be leased to domestic producers without auction and with a coefficient less than 1;
• a reduced coefficient of 0.5 has been introduced for leasing production facilities – this benefit was introduced at the suggestion of businesses to reduce 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 prohibition for persons whose actions led to the disruption of previously held auctions to participate in auctions for the sale of the right to conclude a lease agreement;
• the concept of "periodic lease" has appeared, when an object is leased for specific hours, and during the rest of the time the object is used by the balance holder or leased to another tenant;
• the possibility of applying a reduced coefficient 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 applying a reduced coefficient depending on which household service is most in demand in a particular territory;
• the possibility of applying a reduced coefficient of 0.1 to base rates for space to organizations employing 30% of disabled people. This will expand the 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 use.

Currently, approximately one thousand state-owned or state-affiliated premises 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 attract significant interest is the former non-food store located on 39th Army Street in Vitebsk, 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 could be of interest not only for opening a retail outlet but also for conducting service-based entrepreneurial activities.

For instance, in accordance with the law, 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 established.

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

Such a property 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 ().

If desired, tenants currently have two ways to purchase leased state property without 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.

This year, 11 leased premises worth over 500 thousand rubles were purchased in this manner in the Vitebsk region.

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.

For more details on Presidential Decree of the Republic of Belarus No. 138, please follow the link: