Russia's Federation Council approves bill simplifying lease of federal airfield property

MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - The Federation Council approved a bill at a meeting on Wednesday establishing that the conclusion of lease agreements for federal real estate property of civil aviation airfields with their operators will be carried out without competitions or auctions.

Currently, according to the law on protecting competition, lease agreements for state or municipal property held by unitary enterprises under the right of economic management or operational management can be concluded only through competitions or auctions. Exceptions are allowed if a different procedure is directly established by federal law or an act of the Russian government.

However, according to Article 49 of the Air Code, the operation of a civil aviation airfield and its compliance with federal aviation rules is ensured by an operator - that is, an entity which owns the airfield by right of ownership, lease or other legal basis and operates it for the take-off, landing, taxiing, and parking of civil aircraft. Therefore, as the authors of the bill note, in the case of airfields, there is no competition, since each airfield has its own operator and no one else can perform its functions.

The approved bill supplements Article 49 of the Air Code with a provision stating that a lease agreement for real estate property that is in federal ownership and assigned to a state unitary enterprise is concluded directly with the airfield operator without holding competitions or auctions. It is therefore proposed to allow the conclusion of a lease agreement directly with the operator.

"The proposed changes will significantly reduce the time for transferring federal real estate property for lease to operators of civil aviation airfields (without issuing a corresponding act of the Russian government), ensure the continuity of airfield operations, as well as the efficient use and preservation of state property," the explanatory note to the bill says.

The law will come into force ten days after its official publication.