The Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has identified violations in the areas of unauthorized construction and the reduction of vacant and dilapidated houses

The prosecutor's offices of the Vitebsk region have carried out an inspection of compliance by local executive and administrative bodies with the requirements of legislation when making decisions regarding unauthorized constructions, vacant and dilapidated houses, as well as unused and misused land plots.

The inspection established that officials of executive committees did not always take measures to identify and eliminate existing cases of unauthorized construction in the subordinate territories, and to bring to justice persons responsible for these violations of legislation (Lepel, Sharkovshchyna, Gorodok districts, Vitebsk city).

In Polotsk and Chashniki districts, inspections of unauthorized constructions and preparation of necessary documents were not always carried out within the established timeframes.

Prosecutors also noted instances of failure to send information to tax authorities regarding land plots that were illegally occupied, used for purposes other than intended, and not returned in a timely manner, for the purpose of calculating land tax at an increased rate (Chashniki, Tolochin districts).

In violation of legislative requirements, local executive and administrative bodies improperly maintained registers of vacant houses located in rural areas. Executive committees did not have complete and reliable information about the number and location of these objects, and therefore could not properly work with them.

There were instances of improper formation, as well as inaction of commissions for inspecting the condition of residential houses located in rural areas within the territories of the respective administrative-territorial units.

Similar facts were identified by prosecutors in Braslav, Liozno, Glubokoe, Chashniki, and Miory districts.

Ineffective work in identifying dilapidated and vacant houses in rural areas was also facilitated by the lack of interaction in this area of activity between interested departments and the improper work of executive committees with the owners of residential houses (Braslav, Miory, and Polotsk districts).

Prosecutors have identified specific instances of violations in the deadlines for submitting applications to courts to declare houses ownerless and transfer them to the ownership of the respective administrative-territorial units.

Problematic issues in the demolition of residential premises of the analyzed category were noted during the inspection in Vitebsk, Orsha, and Miory districts.

Based on the identified violations of legislation, prosecutors of the cities and districts of the region have submitted 12 supervisory acts to local executive and administrative bodies, which are currently under review. Relevant information on the results of the inspection has been prepared for the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.

Marina Zaprudskaya, Prosecutor of the Department of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office.