Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Land reform is one of the most important issues for Uzbekistan today. The development of both agriculture and the entire economy, as well as ensuring the food security of the country, largely depends on these reforms. That is why specialists from the Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research (IPMI) have studied the ongoing land reforms in Azerbaijan. And this is no coincidence. Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan gained independence almost simultaneously.

The development conditions, economic and institutional problems of the two countries are very similar. In addition, land reforms in Azerbaijan began relatively long ago, and sufficient experience has been accumulated in this regard. This is exactly what Azerbaijan’s experience is useful for us.

So, the reform of land relations in Azerbaijan was carried out in several stages. The main one was the first stage: 1996-2003. During this period, a large-scale program for the privatization of state lands was implemented, more than 50 legal acts were adopted, and a legislative basis for reforms was created. The main goals of this stage were to change the forms of land ownership, ensure food security and improve the living standards of the population.

However, the privatization process has been very slow. The transfer of state assets was delayed in many cases, and in some cases the transferred assets were actually unprofitable. This was mainly due to the fact that the regional authorities, fearing the loss of influence, created artificial obstacles and slowed down the reform process. The role of the municipalities was weak. The first elected municipalities began to function only in January 2000.

The distribution of land was carried out by drawing lots. This approach largely ensured fair distribution in many regions.

The area of privatized plots depended on the land resources of the village and could vary from 0.1-0.5 hectares to several hectares in land-poor areas. One of the important features of the reforms was that land was transferred to private hands free of charge. All citizens, regardless of place of residence, were granted the right to use, lease, buy or sell land. The programs were implemented on a pilot basis in various regions of the country.

As a result of the elimination of old forms of management, three forms of land ownership were created: state, municipal and private.

Most of the land, including crop areas, has been privatized. As a result, more than 3.5 million citizens became land owners. In 2004, 98.1% of families eligible for land plots received their own land plots.

Agricultural production began to grow steadily since 1996. Growth averaged 8.4 percent per annum and recovered to 75 percent of 1991 levels by the end of the period.

At the same time, a number of shortcomings and missed opportunities of this reform period should be noted. These include the weak development of industries related to agriculture, the limited sources of income for households involved in agricultural activities. All this hindered the growth of demand for consumer and other industrial goods.

In 2004, the second stage of land reform began in Azerbaijan. The main attention was paid to the improvement of the land management system. For this purpose, the State Committee for State Property Management, the Land Inspectorate were established, and international donors were widely involved in the implementation of state programs. In addition, specific grounds and criteria for the withdrawal of land plots for state needs have been determined. The second stage of reforms stimulated uneven but intensive development of the country’s land market.

At the current stage of reforms, the process of privatization of state land plots continues. In addition, work is underway on state registration of property rights to land plots received by individuals in the previous stages of reforms.

These measures are aimed at completing the work on registration of property rights, as well as ensuring regular subsidies for land owners.