The issue has been current for at least 15 years, which is why zemeunvalsts.lv decided to highlight a problem created by civil servants that, given the various nuances in recent years, shows that: "Time flies, but habits and shortcomings remain!" You won't find thoughts like these in government declarations!
Moreover, when talking about balance, sustainability, equal treatment, etc., one thing is forgotten regarding landowners: the landowner is often an entrepreneur as well. Therefore, they work and provide jobs, earn for themselves and all of us (taxes), but... the costs of the "current" nature conservation business activities in Latvia, such as "Micro-reserves", are also on the owner's shoulders. Even considering the budget figures for the lesser spotted eagle project, there is no visible balance: the regulators receive funding, but the owner gets nothing! This is neither fair nor understandable! Furthermore, to some extent, the owner has also paid for this restriction! The very same owner who is not being listened to!
At least some of the established nature conservation restrictions are not reflected in the Land Register, as a result of which the owner finds out about their existence several years later – this causes losses. Moreover, these are not just a few isolated cases, and entrepreneurs are not really sure who is responsible for this – the Ministry of the Environment, the State Land Service, or some other institution – when, for example, the Land Register records encumbrances such as electric grid overhead lines and water drainage protection zones, but in some cases, it is not indicated that part or all of the property is burdened with various economic activity restrictions. The task of Land Register judges is not to look for what the encumbrances on a specific plot of land are, but to register them if they are filed, explains Minister of Justice Solvita Āboltiņa. In her view, the filing of these encumbrances for entry into the Land Register is the responsibility of the competent state institutions.
Unknown restrictions
"In December last year, we purchased a forest property of 36 hectares for almost 50,000 Ls, for which no encumbrances or economic activity restrictions were recorded in the Land Register, but when developing a new forest management project for this area, such restrictions suddenly appeared," says Līga Zdanovska, Head of the Real Estate Department at SIA “Hansa Silvesters”. She points out that she immediately contacted the seller of the land, but this restriction was news to him as well, and neither the local forester nor the forest district office itself had known of its existence. "It turned out that part of our 36 hectares of purchased forest land was included in a nature reserve established as early as 1999, but for unknown reasons, no one had bothered to make such an entry in the specific owner's Land Register in December 2004." L. Zdanovska reminds that regulatory acts provide that if a specific owner has restricted forest management activities, they are entitled to a real estate tax discount, which is generated by reducing the cadastral value, but the former owner has not been informed whether they were granted a discount and, if so, how much. "Upon seeking help at the State Land Service, which calculates real estate tax, it was revealed that the relevant property located in the restricted area is not among those that are granted tax relief because information about the nature reserve on the specific property had not been received from the Regional Environmental Board." The owner must personally submit an application to the Regional Environmental Board regarding the encumbrances on the property in order to receive tax relief. "The attitude of the Ministry of the Environment towards this situation, which creates losses for entrepreneurs, is strange: 'Ignorance is no excuse – you will have to observe all the rules that apply to this protected area. If you had inquired beforehand at the Regional Environmental Board whether the territory was under state protection, all the trouble would have been avoided. Don't buy a pig in a poke!'" L. Zdanovska admits that in her real estate work, she has encountered an even more absurd case, where a specific property had no nature conservation encumbrances in the Land Register, but an entry about the existence of such an encumbrance appeared with a 6-year delay only in 2002, exactly when the company received a permit to cut the forest on that specific property and had begun development.
No compensation
"It is strange that the exchange of information happens at a snail's pace over 5-6 years, but this does not apply to cases where the owner must be punished for some offense committed out of ignorance, namely, we bought the land at the end of November 2004, but in the middle of February this year, we already received a warning that we would be fined because we had not timely replanted the previously cleared forest on the purchased area, even though it is impossible to do so before the spring," says a surprised L. Zdanovska. SIA “Hansa Silvesters” Managing Director Māris Liopa points out that they are not against nature conservation restrictions, however, if they are determined, then they must be in the Land Register; otherwise, the guilty institution that failed to register them on time must buy back this encumbered land from its own funds from the bona fide owner (purchaser). He reminds that compensation is promised to the owners of such encumbered land in Latvia, but it still does not exist and it is not known when or how large it might be; besides, the state allegedly has no funds (or desire) to buy back this land or exchange it for equivalent land.
Data must be verified
"Unfortunately, all encumbrances related to nature conservation are not yet recorded in the Land Register, because it costs money and cannot be done so quickly," explains Daiga Vilkaste, Director of the Nature Protection Department at the Ministry of the Environment. She points out that land is bought and sold, and admits that a nature conservation encumbrance might even disappear from the Land Register or that an owner, in order to sell it, might not inform the buyer about it at all. "In the long run, of course, all these encumbrances will be recorded in the Land Register, but until that is done completely, persons who wish to buy any plots of land can look on the internet to see if any nature conservation encumbrances have been set for them and can obtain more detailed free information from the Nature Conservation Agency or the specific Regional Environmental Board." D. Vilkaste points out that cadastral information is also available at the State Land Service. In her opinion, a situation should not be possible where a specific forest, for which no nature conservation reserve is recorded in the Land Register, is issued a felling permit, because the State Forest Service has information about where everything is located and where and what is prohibited.
Opinion
Deputy Head of the Legal Department at the State Forest Service, Līga Meņģele: Before issuing a confirmation, the State Forest Service (VMD) verifies the entry in the Land Register because it is necessary to determine whether the person is the forest owner, legal possessor, or permanent user, and whether any restrictions have been placed on the forest land. If the forest land is part of a specially protected nature territory, the restriction recorded in the Land Register serves both as information about limited economic activity for potential forest land buyers and as publicly available information for state administration institutions. The VMD is guided by the Land Register entry when deciding on the issuance of a confirmation. The Law "On Specially Protected Nature Territories" stipulates that the managing institution of a specially protected nature territory or the regional environmental board (from January 1, the State Environmental Service), or the recording of property legal restrictions in the Land Register, is the competence of the municipality. The duty of the Ministry of the Environment and its institutions is to inform the landowner in writing about the restrictions on their property rights. Due to negligence, the information in the Land Register as a publicly accessible register does not reflect the actual situation, as a result of which the VMD issues an administrative act, such as a confirmation for tree felling, just as in cases where no restrictions would exist for the owner.
Material first published in the newspaper "Dienas Bizness" on 4 March 2005
http://raksti.db.lv/articles?&to=04.03.2005