In Russia, the process of registering legal rights for immovable property has greatly improved in recent years, thanks to the development of standardized, clear, and more efficient registration procedures, as well as the introduction of an improved information management system for real estate rights and cadastre registration services.
These necessary improvements have come about through the Russian Federation Registration Project, which is managed through effective cooperation between The Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr), the Ministry of Economy and Development, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Bank. To date, the project has received a total funding of US$ 32.2 million.
Easier registration of property is part of a wider effort to improve public service delivery and guarantee legal certainty of property rights for individuals and business alike in Russia.
“Improving the business environment for all levels of entrepreneurs – from small, even micro, to big business – is, of course, the most important part of the investment climate in the country,” says Igor Vasiliev, Head of Rosreestr. “Rosreestr plays a special role, as the agency engages in the registration of property rights, which is precisely the key point for investors.”
Russian citizens are benefitting in several ways. For example, they are no longer required to submit to Rosreestr documents issued by other government or municipal institutions. Rosreestr has taken over the function of collecting all documents, using its connection to the Interdepartmental Electronic Interaction system, and regularly exchanges information in digital format with 40 Federal Ministries and Agencies, including regional and municipal authorities.
The time it takes to register property has decreased from 30 to 8 working days – less than the 10 days required by law. Less complex cases are often completed in 1 day. Information requests are now processed within 3 days and those submitted electronically through the Portal of Public Services are processed in 1 day.
Some 19,534,295 digital extracts were issued in 2014, 55% of them requested online, while transactional services requested online represented about 35% of the total number of applications processed by Rosreestr.
Multi-functional centres, which provide federal, regional and municipal services using the principle of a “one-stop-shop” are spread widely across Russia. Rosreestr services are among the most popular services provided by these centres.
One of the priority initiatives of Rosreestr was the creation of call centres, which currently operate in 9 time zones and in several languages. By phoning an in-house call centre, a person can make an appointment with an office that provides Rosreestr services. The first of these call centres was opened in Kursk in September 2011, and the second one in Kazan in March 2014.