OLGA BATURA: ABOUT THE TRANSFER OF THE BIG PORT FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO UST-LUGA

Opinion of Olga Batura, Head of the Real estate and PPP practice, on the transfer of the Big Port from St. Petersburg to Ust-Luga for "Real Estate and Construction of St. Petersburg":

"Since I specialize in PPP projects and integrated development of the territory, I will only comment on the legal aspect. The idea suggests using the PPP mechanism. The construction of a gas processing complex in Ust-Luga, implemented by Gazprom and Rusgazdobycha, serves as an example. But the current legislation is clearly not enough for redevelopment projects of this scale, and the Big Port of St. Petersburg is one of the largest ports in Russia.

For example, 224-FZ does not regulate legal relations in the field of redevelopment. It can be applied in the construction of the port of Ust-Luga, where new terminals are created. But this mechanism is not applicable for the development of the territory that is already occupied by the port infrastructure. Let's start with the fact that the residential buildings cannot be the PPP objects. Unlike creation and reconstruction, the destruction of berths and other port infrastructure facilities cannot be the subject of such an agreement. In addition, the Government of the Russian Federation is considering amendments to the law on concessions, in particular, in terms of limiting compensation to the investor for infrastructure costs in the amount of up to 80% of all costs incurred.

The mechanism of integrated territory development is also not applicable here, or applicable in the case of organizing tendering procedures. It is unlikely that the initiators of the project are ready for this. As for the implementation of the integrated territory development project on the initiative of the proprietors, this is possible only by those of them who have owned capital objects for at least five years. At the same time, they will have a restriction on the purchase of other land plots. In addition, this legal mechanism does not resolve the issue of budget compensation to the investor for the built infrastructure. It is rather assumed that the investor will build it at his own expense and transfer it to the public side.

In my opinion, to implement such an ambitious idea, it is necessary to make changes to the current regulatory framework."