Opinion piece, Ilona Bērziņa, BNN
The decision made by the government [in Latvia] to not purchase the land needed for Biķernieki track for EUR 8 million was not unexpected. It would have been stranger if this deal was declared good despite the public resonance surrounding it.
Something else is surprising, however. This lesson was not learned, and in the government it seems no one wants to set a clear and unambiguous order for the purchase of this land at its cadastral value.
It is also possible that this could be the fault of yet another political deal of sorts.
Latvia does have the Law on the Alienation of Immovable Property Necessary for Public Needs, which states that «immovable property shall be alienated for State protection, environmental protection, health protection or social security needs, construction of cultural, educational and sports facilities, engineering structures and engineering communications or development of transport infrastructure necessary for the public, as well as for ensuring other public needs, provided that this aim cannot be achieved by other means».
Everything should be clear – if private land is needed for the development of Biķernieki sports complex, the Ministry of Transport, which is the holder of shares in CSDD, goes to the government and makes an offer to purchase this land.
Since the era of socialism with the slogan «the land belongs to the people» is, thank God, over, the government can purchase the land. In this particular case residents were shocked not by the fact of the intent to purchase, rather the fact that the price has doubled in the last couple of years. In 2019 Latvia’s government was prepared to purchase the land in question for EUR 3.9 million. In 2022, however, the price doubled to EUR 8 million.
However, the fact that the decision is cancelled does not mean purchase of land for the needs of Biķernieki track is crossed out for good. This topic will be discussed in the context of the 2023 state budget, as long as the Ministry of Transport submits it for discussion that is.
Last year I asked the Ministry of Transport if the topic of the purchase of Biķernieki land is planned to be viewed again, if there are plans for an evaluation of the price of the land in question and if other options are on the table, including exchange for piece of land of equivalent value.
The ministry’s response stated that there was nothing to consider when in comes to a repeated viewing of this topic, as: «The Ministry of Transport ensured alienation of immovable property in compliance with the Cabinet of Ministers Order Nr. 640, Law on the Alienation of Immovable Property Necessary for Public Needs and Cabinet of Ministers Req. 204 Procedure for determining fair remuneration for real estate to be alienated for public needs. The ministry organised its efforts in accordance with the order and terms outlined in relevant legislative acts, which means the ministry has no legal reason to perform any repeated evaluations or other related activities in addition to what is required by the law.»
Without a doubt – development of Biķernieki track is important for the sports world. However, Biķernieki sports complex is not the only publicly important piece of infrastructure that sits fully or partially on privately owned land.
Situations like that are more common than most people know. This applies to education facilities and healthcare institutions, even Jekabpils prison.
State institutions do alienate pieces of land for public needs from time to time. However, these cases are but a drop in the ocean when it comes to ending shared ownership of land under public infrastructure.
In the time when Biķernieki scandal was just starting to grow, a sensible question was asked – why not way until 2023, when the Law on the Termination of Forced Shared Property in Privatised Apartment Houses is set to come to force? However, as the Ministry of Transport justifiably explained – this law is not applicable to the recovery of real estate for the needs of Biķernieki sports complex, because this law applies on to shared ownership of property in privatised apartment houses.
Why did the Saeima decide not to include state and municipal institutions from the aforementioned law though?
But this is where it gets interesting. When the law was nearing the finish line, then the Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns explained that all of these cases are so simple that once this law is adopted, development of more focused legislative drafts would become a one-day task.
But time goes on – and there is still no legislative draft that would make it clear that it is possible to end this kind of shared ownership by making it a duty for land owners to sell land to building owners at its cadastral value. All of us can be certain, unlike apartment owners, most businessmen won’t miss the chance to use such an opportunity.
But perhaps development of the legislative draft was delayed by this «Biķernieki affair»? If this happened, the land would have to be sold at its cadastral value – EUR 830 396. If the deal got stuck for another couple of years, the price would go down to EUR 339 328 (according to Cadastral Information System, this would be the cadastral value of the piece of land in question in 2025).
The state budget would definitely benefit from that, but for owners of land in Biķernieki such a law would be rather painful financially. If we recall the assumption voiced last year, there may be a political deal between Attīstībai/Par! and Conservative Party behind this affair. So to speak, if you get our millionaires money for Biķernieki land, we will get your sponsor – Skulte liquefied gas terminal…
With that in mind, the lack of such a legislative draft is not surprising. In the end, who would dare shoot themselves in the foot if a project like Skulte terminal is on the table?
I would be said if such political parties elected by voters would influence the new government in Latvia. Otherwise Latvia cannot hope to ever get rid of such a pointless practice – forced shared property (which, by the way, is not a thing in Lithuania or Estonia).
More on this topic: Latvian government cancels decision to buy back real estate from millionaires