‘The Russian Federation law states that if dishonest builders fail to use their land allotments within three years, these allotments must be withdrawn; we intend to stick to the letter of the law,’ Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel announced at a press conference.

‘The thing is, when no building is put up on the land, people who invested in the future apartments are obviously suffering, which has inevitable social implications. So, in case a land allotment is obviously misused, the builder will have to part with it,’ Mr. Rossel explained.

The Governor said earlier that the construction business was actually unfairly (and unbelievably) lucrative since prices were kept high without any good reason. He claims the builders do not reconsider their spending schemes despite the use of new and cheaper technologies. Mr. Rossel suggested that the region’s government should come up with a special provision that could clearly identify the efforts each authority should make to solve the problem. In the meantime, some developers say one way out is withdrawing land allotments from dishonest builders.