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.

The decree concerns not only state property but also the property of joint-stock companies with a state share in authorized funds exceeding 50%.

The adopted Decree provides a number of new opportunities:

now retail spaces can be leased to domestic producers without auction bidding and with the application of a coefficient less than 1;
when leasing production facilities, a reduced coefficient of 0.5 is introduced – this benefit was introduced at the suggestion of businesses to reduce production costs;
the list of legal entities that do not reimburse expenses related to the maintenance of property transferred to them free of charge has been clarified;
the obligation of economic societies to provide property for gratuitous use is removed, except for transfer 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;
such a concept as "periodic lease" has appeared, when an object is leased for certain 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 the application of 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 basic rates for premises to organizations where 30% of disabled people are employed. 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 rental relations, and increasing the efficiency of state property use.

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

Many vacant premises can also be found in Vitebsk itself.

One of the new objects that may be of great 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 can be of interest not only for opening a retail outlet but also for conducting entrepreneurial activities in the service sector.

Thus, in accordance with the legislation, the rental rate can 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 objects offered for rent are also those with the status of historical and cultural value.

Such an object is the retail trade 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 object belongs to the historical "Lenin Street development of the late 19th – early 20th century" with the third category of historical and cultural value.

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

All objects offered for rent can be viewed on the Internet in a unified

in the information base of unused property of the State Property Committee of the Republic of Belarus (https://au.nca.by/).

If desired, the tenant has two ways today to buy out the leased state property without auction.

The first way is the buyout 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 were bought out in this way in the Vitebsk region for more than 500 thousand rubles.

This year, another way to buy out leased property has appeared – concluding a lease agreement with the right of subsequent buyout. In this case, the tenant can become the owner of the leased object within one year of lease.

For more details on Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 138, please follow the link: https://president.gov.by/bucket/assets/uploads/documents/2023/138uk.pdf