Swiss set boundaries in Moscow

Swiss experts are mapping Moscow. PD

Swiss engineers are using satellite technology to create a new land registry for the Russian capital, Moscow.

The project, funded by the World Bank, is helping to resolve boundary disputes at a time of growing demand for land in the country.

For the first time since 1917, land in Moscow is going under the hammer, with demand high for industrial sites around the metropolis of 13 million people.

However, one of three parcels of land at a recent auction had to be withdrawn at the last moment because of uncertainties surrounding its legal status.

While recent land reforms agreed by parliament allow Russians to own land, this has been hampered by the lack of a reliable land registry – something that has existed in Switzerland since 1912.

“During the Soviet era, it was irrelevant where the borders were exactly because the land was owned and managed by the state,” said Christoph Zeltner from Grunder Engineers, one of the Swiss companies working on the project.

Satellite technology

Swiss involvement focuses on one area: supporting the creation of a land registry through satellite-based technology. The project, which covers the outer Moscow area, is due to finish in February 2004.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs has provided SFr4.4 million ($3.5 million) towards the costs, with the Russians contributing SFr1.9 million.

However, a large proportion of the money has flowed back to Switzerland. Contracts worth SFr3.5 million were awarded to Swiss firms, which delivered measuring instruments and other material.

“The Swiss contribution is an important basis for growth and development,” said Sergej Saj, head of the federal Russian land registry.

Saj added that Russia’s huge surface area could only be exploited properly once boundaries and questions of ownership had been cleared up.

“The modern satellite technology financed by Switzerland is enabling exact work to be carried out in the shortest amount of time. Using older measuring techniques would have meant that the work would have taken years on end,” said Saj.

Getting started

The Moscow project is something of a pilot and the measuring standards used are slowly becoming the norm throughout Russia.

While only a small part of Russia has been measured so far, other regions have already expressed an interest, says Zeltner.

“The system has already been copied in St Petersburg, where it has been financed independently. Tartarstan has already put aside funds to finance a similar system,” he added.

swissinfo, Alexandra Stark in Moscow

Moscow

Switzerland is sponsoring a land-registry project in the Russian capital, Moscow.

The project makes it easier for Russians to buy land by determining borders and who owns the land.

Swiss money is enabling the use of modern satellite technology to create a reliable land registry.
The project is due to wind up in February 2004.