United Russia may establish a political movement for expediting the Eurasian integration processes, Yury Shuvalov, Deputy Secretary of the Presidium of United Russia's General Council, told the paper. Moscow is to host the movement's first organisational meeting October 20. The new movement will be expected to create a common land-tenure system for Russia and member states of the Eurasian Economic Community to chart measures regarding the development of Russian land plots. The movement also will promote a policy which could change the popular attitude towards land tenure.
Although the movement still has no name, a working group has already started drafting the relevant programme. "The programme will help reinstate farming, and preparations are underway for the Land Forum, scheduled to be held in the spring of 2012," Shuvalov said.
He said legislative motions, due to be passed by the next State Duma's United Russia deputies, were also being drafted.
The movement's establishment was motivated by Vladimir Putin's initiative on the need to create the Eurasian Economic Union and then the Eurasian Union as a "powerful supranational entity that can become a major player in the modern world, and which can simultaneously serve as an effective link between Europe and the dynamic Asia-Pacific Region," Putin proposed in his Izvestia article.
"Land is a foundation, which can facilitate reconstruction, the creation of a common Eurasian space and the restoration of lost ties. There is no denying that we are different states, but land-tenure traditions are one factor that unifies us," Shuvalov noted.
United Russia believes that common land-tenure regulations for Eurasian countries will be the next step after the creation of the Customs Union, a common economic space and a regional financial centre, which may be established in Russia. Common land-tenure regulations may also be introduced after Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and other potential partners issue their common regional currency. This should be preceded by efforts to create a common cultural space. This is the goal the movement will strive to achieve.
Moreover, the new organisation will do its best to enforce legislation in the field of land turnover. Shuvalov says this primarily means that, instead of remaining vacant, all deeded plots of land should be used effectively. Additionally, there should be some limitations placed on commerce in land, he noted.
Finally, the movement should provide incentives for developing sparsely populated Russian territories and for resettling economically active individuals there.
When asked about the movement's membership, Shuvalov explained that the organisation relied on the potential of the party, the Russian Popular Front, the Social Conservative Union and the party's affiliated organisations.
Dmitry Peskov, Spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, told the paper that he still knew nothing about the United Russia initiative, but that he had promised them full support in promoting efforts for Eurasian integration.
"Certainly, the ruling party's ideas on Eurasian integration are met with support, and this cannot but make one satisfied. As far as more specific forms of government support for United Russia's proposals are concerned, it is still too early to say. Specific proposals still need to be assessed," Peskov told the paper.
Theoretically speaking, land-tenure initiatives may encounter few obstacles in Russia, unless this turns into yet another bureaucratic and PR farce, said Pavel Salin, a leading analyst with the Center for Current Politics. In his opinion, alongside Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan should put forth their own initiatives in order for Russia to begin implementing the main points of Vladimir Putin's article. "Lukashenko, for example, is hardly interested in United Russia's opinion," Salin noted in conclusion.
Olga Tropkina
