Lithuania streamlines state land sales and leases

Lithuania’s government has approved changes to simplify the sale and lease of state-owned land, LRT reported, saying the measures clarify responsibilities and remove some procedures.

Environment Minister Ieva Andriulaitytė said the changes aim to reduce the administrative burden on residents and businesses and improve the management of state land.

Under the new rules, the National Land Service will organise auctions for land sales, while the service and municipalities will organise lease auctions. Municipal mayors and the service will also be able to approve the transfer or mortgage of land leases.

The value of state land leased without an auction will be reassessed every three years and used to calculate the rent. The changes also remove the requirement to divide leased state land into separate plots for each structure in cases covered by exceptions in the Land Law.

The rules provide more opportunities to lease state land without an auction for the use of abandoned structures that need repair or reconstruction. They also remove the requirement for the state to buy structures when a lease is terminated early and align requirements for open and closed auctions.