State Says That Land Conversion Has Earned It Negligible Revenues So Far – Amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction to Make It History

The amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction Envisage the repealing of the Law on Conversion, from which the state has earned revenues of around EUR 31 million in 10 years.

Said amount, the Ministry of Infrastructure believes, is negligible in the sense of contributing to the budget of the Republic of Serbia, Also, they add, through the implementation of this law, more than 98% of the conversions were done without any compensation, because the Law on Conversion provided the possibility for the investor or the owner to get, in addition to the land on which the main facility was built, the land around the facility without a fee as well, if they proved that it was necessary for regular use (parking lots, access areas, side rooms).

For that reason, the ministry claims that, although the critics of the repealing of the Law on Conversion often cite as an argument the case of the potential future privatization of the Belgrade Fair and explain that, in the case of the repealing of the Law on Conversion and the subsequent privatization of the Fair, the future owner would get, without investing a single dinar, 11 ha of city construction land as well, whose value would be ten times higher than the value of the purchased capital of the privatized subject – hypothetically, the new owner of the Fair also had the right to land conversion without a fee even according to the still valid Law on Conversion.

– According to what people from the economy have said, the processes sometimes take three, four, and even up to nine years, and from only one location, through the VAT, the property tax and the purchase of apartments, we will make much higher revenues – minister Goran Vesic said on that occasion, according to the website of the ministry.

As further added, “the repealing of this Law would free considerable areas of building land for construction activities, which would have a positive effect on increasing the value of the executed construction works and the growth of the GDP of the Republic of Serbia.”

As for the financial effects of repealing the Law on Conversion, it is estimated that it will “free” an amount of building land for construction activities, which potentially, in the long run, could lead to the construction of facilities of large floor areas. Consequently, this will lead to an increase in the number of issued location requirements, construction and use permits, employment, and the development of the entire construction sector.

New features in the law

– Electromobility is introduced, which means that there will have to be a certain number of electric chargers in residential and office facilities, and gas stations on highways will have to introduce chargers. The obligation of having the third-party damage insurance policy is introduced, which means that, if an accident happens, those who have suffered the damage can get a compensation, which, for example, the tenants in Dubljanska or Vidovdanska streets could not – Vesic said.

According to him, the amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction envisage the improvement of the electronic system for the issuing of construction permits, the CEOP system, by implementing new functionalities, and especially the e-space, making the procedure of the preparation and amending of the planning documentation quicker and more efficient, according to the ministry’s website.

Vesic said that the green agenda would be improved and that all the buildings of over 10,000 square meters would need to have a green certificate, and buildings would also have to have an energy passport.

He added that the Law on Line Infrastructure was to be repealed, that the main urban planner of the Republic of Serbia was being introduced and that (once again – eKapija’s note) the Agency for Spatial and urban Planning was to be formed.

He pointed out that one of the most important characteristics of the law would be a greater transparency and that those in charge of issuing building permits will have a greater responsibility if they don’t issue it on time, as well as that the carriers of public authorization would not be able to change the decisions they had already made.

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Beogradski sajam doo Beograd

Belgrade Fair

Goran Vesić

Dubljanska Street

Vidovdanska Street

Law on Planning and Construction

electromobility

e space

electronic system of issuing building permits

energy passport

green certificate

Law on Conversion

conversion

Agency for Spatial and Urban Planning

removal of land conversion