President Vladimir Putin has signed into law the country's Water Code, which will come into force on 1 January 2007.

Some elements of the new code are:

• all water resources except self-contained bodies of water, on federal, regional or private land, are federal property;
• self-contained bodies of water larger than 3,000 square meters or located within 1 kilometre of a settlement cannot be privatised;
• a simplified procedure for acquiring "special" water use rights, which are based on an agreement between private parties as opposed to "specific" rights based on government regulations;
• a provision for water user fees to be paid to the federal government.

Web sites: Russia – Federal Water Resources Agency ; Ask IRC – Legislation databases ; WaterWiki - Russia -

Related news: Russia: Cabinet approves new Water Code, Source Weekly, 9 Mar 2004

Source: Prime-Tass / AmCham Russia, 5 Jun 2006

Tags: policies & legislation, water resources management