REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW
ON
THE LEASING OF LAND
Article 1. The Purpose of the Law on Land Lease
This Law shall establish the procedure for leasing land to
natural and legal persons of the Republic of Lithuania and
foreign states as well as to joint ventures and firms with
foreign capital, and shall regulate the relations between the
lessee and the lessor.
The procedure for leasing land to diplomatic and consular
missions of foreign states is established in the Law of the
Republic of Lithuania "On the Procedure and Conditions for the
Sale and Lease of Land to Diplomatic and Consular Missions of
Foreign States".
Buildings, structures and other facilities located on leased
plots of land shall be rented according to the procedure
established by law, and the conditions for the use thereof shall
be established in the lease. With people who are using land for
the purpose of agriculture which has been assigned to them for
their private holdings or as service allotments, contracts for a
lease of State-owned land shall not be concluded until the
complex land-use planning projects of land reform are designed.
Article 2. The Concept of a Land Lease Contract
By a land lease contract the lessor shall obligate himself
to permit the lessee to temporarily use the land, while the
lessee - to use the land under the conditions provided for in
the contract and established by the laws of the Republic of
Lithuania, and to pay land rent.
Article 3. The Form of a Land Lease Contract
Land lease contracts shall be concluded in writing and
registered with the institution which keeps the State Land
Cadastre according to the procedure established by the laws of
the Republic of Lithuania and the Government of the Republic of
Lithuania.
In the event that the above regulations are not complied
with, the land lease contract shall be invalid.
The plan of the parcel of land subject to lease, the manner
of designing of which shall be established by the Ministry of
Agriculture, must be attached to the land lease contract.
When land is leased to natural and legal persons of foreign
states, the land lease contract, at the request of the lessee,
may be executed in two languages: in Lithuanian and in one
foreign language. Should a dispute concerning the text arise, it
shall be settled on the basis of the Lithuanian version.
Article 4. Contents of Land Lease Contracts
The following must be stated in a land lease contract:
1) the lessor of the land;
2) the lessee of the land;
3) the subject of the lease and the data from the land
cadastre characterising the parcel of land subject to lease;
4) the term of the lease of land;
5) the principal particular purpose of land utilisation;
6) conditions for construction on the leased plot of land;
7) conditions for land utilisation;
8) restrictions on land utilisation;
9) land easements;
10) land rent and the procedure of payment thereof;
11) other obligations of the lessor and lessee in connection
with the use and return of the leased plot of land; and
12) liability for the violations of the land lease contract.
If plots of agricultural land are leased for more than 3
years, the data which characterises the quality of the
agricultural land according to the indices approved by the
Ministry of Agriculture shall also be included in the land lease
contract.
The data specified in Pars. 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9 hereof shall
be recorded in the contract according to the data of the State
Land Register.
In the event that a contract for the lease of private land
is concluded, the above data may be recorded therein according
to the extract from the State Land Register presented by the
owner.
Land lease contracts must state the conditions of transfer
of the buildings, facilities, plantations of trees and areas
under crops belonging by ownership right to the former user or
owner of the land or compensation therefor, as well as the date
from which the use of the leased land is to begin.
When land designated for agricultural purposes is leased and
the parcel is under crops, cultured plant grass, fruit-bearing
fruit-trees and bushes, the lessee may begin to use said land
only after the former user of the land has gathered in the
year's harvest, unless the land lease contract provides
otherwise.
In the event that the leased land contains buildings or
engineering facilities and lines of communication which are
owned by the State or a third person, or if it contains protected
objects of cultural heritage or nature which are not connected
with the lessee's activities, taking the above into
consideration, the following must be stated in the land lease
contract: the lessee's rights, obligations and activity
restrictions.
Article 5. The Lessor of Land
The lessor of land shall be the owner or co-owner of private
land, town (district) Board or other State institution which
performs the functions of the owner of State-owned land, the
manager of the State-owned land appointed according to the
procedure established by law and (when land is subleased) the
user of State-owned land.
During the period of implementation of land reform and prior
to the approval of land reform projects of land-use planning for
appropriate territories, State-owned land in rural localities,
with the exception of land allotted, on the county Council's
decision, for use in the residents' private holdings, land
assigned for service allotments, and land allotted for use on
the decision of the district Board or the Government of the
Republic of Lithuania, shall be leased by the Agrarian Reform
Agency of the county.
If a plot of land (or portion thereof) is owned by several
persons by the right of joint ownership, it may be leased only
on the consent of all of the co-owners. In such cases, the land
lease contract shall be signed by all the co-owners or by one of
them, provided that said co-owner has a notarised document
testifying to the consent of the other co-owners. Disputes among
the co-owners of a plot of land shall be settled in court. In
the event that the State is a co-owner, it shall be represented
by an officer appointed by the local government.
If the lessor of a land plot is a town or district Board,
the land lease contract shall be signed, on the commission of
the Board, by the head of the district Agency of Land-use
Planning.
Article 6. The Leasing of State-owned Land by Competitive
Bidding
State-owned land may be leased by competitive bidding in
accordance with the procedure established by the Government of
the Republic of Lithuania.
Land shall be leased by competitive bidding provided that it
is not built over with structures owned by the prospective
lessee or is not built over with structures which are owned by
other persons and which are not leased with the land, and that
the land is not planned to be assigned, according to the
territorial planning documents, to the land tenure of the
prospective tenant.
Article 7. Land Tenants
Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania who are 18 years of
age or over, or foreign nationals who possess a permit for
permanent residence in the Republic of Lithuania, as well as
enterprises, institutions, organisations, joint ventures and
foreign capital firms which possess a licence for foreign
investment in the Republic of Lithuania and which have been
registered in the established manner, may be land tenants.
Agricultural land may be leased to citizens for the purpose
of establishing or expanding a farm, to agricultural enterprises
and other enterprises for the production of agricultural
produce, and to other persons for developing non-agricultural
activities.
Land shall be leased to persons who are establishing a new
farm only after the preparedness for farming of said persons has
been acknowledged in accordance with the procedure established
by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Land tenants must observe the land use requirements
established by laws for business and other activities taking
into account the territorial planning documents, nature
protection and public interests, and the interests of the owners
and users of the neighbouring land parcels.
Article 8. The Object of Land Lease
The object of land lease shall be a parcel of land
registered in the State Land Register or a portion of such land
parcel formed in accordance with the project of land-use
planning or any other document of territorial planning.
Article 9. The Term of Land Lease
The length of the term for which land is leased shall be
established by an agreement between the landlord and the tenant;
however, the term may not exceed 99 years.
Persons who have had their land returned to them, when
concluding a contract in advance for the lease thereof to
agricultural enterprises under the terms established by the Law
on the Procedure and Conditions of the Restoration of the Rights
of Ownership to the Existing Real Property, may lease the land:
1) prior to the termination of activities of said
enterprises, if the leased land has been assigned to the land
purchased by the State; and
2) for a term of no less than 3 years and no more than 99
years.
If, according to the territorial planning documents, the
land parcel is set aside to be used for public needs
(construction, exploitation of mineral resources, etc.), such
land parcel shall be leased only for a period which shall end
prior to the appropriation of said land for the above purposes.
Article 10. Change of the Pricipal Particular Purpose of
Utilisation of Leased Land
The principal particular purpose of utilisation of leased
land may be changed only according to the procedure established
by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania at the request,
or upon the consent, of the land owner. In the event that the
principal particular purpose of utilisation of leased land is
changed arbitrarily, the land lease contract may be terminated
and the lessee shall be obligated to restore the land plot in
its previous condition so that it can be used for the former
principal particular purpose or to pay the funds required
therefor.
Article 11. Land Rent
The amount of rent to be paid for leased State-owned land
shall be established according to the procedure prescribed by
the laws and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
The amount of rent to be paid for leased private land shall
be circumscribed by the land lease contract.
An agricultural enterprises shall not have the right to
refuse to take on lease the land parcel which is subject to
being restored to private ownership and which, pursuant to the
Law on the Procedure and Conditions of the Restoration of the
Rights of Ownership to the Existing Real Property, has been
assigned to the land purchased by the State for the needs of the
agricultural enterprise, if the amount of land rent offered by
the prospective lessor does not exceed the amount of rent for
State-owned land as established for said parcel of land or is
not in excess of the total amount of the land rent recorded in
the contract for the lease of State-owned land concluded with the
previous lessor of the land and the State land tax imposed on the
land owner. Upon improving agricultural land or in any other way
increasing the value of the land subject to lease, the lessor
may request that the land rent be raised, unless the land lease
contract provides otherwise.
For a lessee who with his own funds improved the
agricultural land or in any other way increased the value of the
leased land, land rent may be raised no ealier than after 5
years from the completion of land improvement works or any other
works which increased the value of land, unless the land lease
contract provides otherwise.
The lessee shall have the right to request that the land
rent be appropriately lowered if, by reason of circumstances for
which he is not responsible, the conditions of land utilisation
as established in the contract deteriorate or additional
restrictions are imposed thereon.
The terms and conditions of land rent for foreign investors
shall be regulated by the Law on Foreign Investments in the
Republic of Lithuania.
Article 12. The Lessor's Obligation to Repair Land
Reclamation Facilities, Roads, Bridges and other
Engineering Facilities
The lessor of land must with his own funds repair land
reclamation facilities, roads, bridges and other engineering
facilities which are owned by him and which effect utilisation
of the leased land, unless the laws or the land lease contract
provide otherwise.
If the lessor fails to fulfil the above obligation, the
lessee shall have the right to perform repair works provided for
in the land lease contract and to recover from the lessor the
costs of the repair work, or to include the sum in the rental
account, or to terminate the land lease contract and recover
damages incurred by failure to implement it.
Article 13. The Lessee's Obligation to Preserve the Soil
and its Quality, and to Keep Land reclamation
Facilities, Roads, Bridges, other Engineering
Facilities and Green Plantations in Good Order
The lessee shall have no right to perform actions on a
leased land parcel whereby the fertile layer of the soil is
damaged or polluted, and must use the land in such a manner that
the quality of agricultural land does not deteriorate, orderly
use, maintain and perform at his own expense minor repair works
of land reclamation facilities, roads, bridges and other
engineering facilities and preserve protective and other types
of green plantations owned by the lessor, unless the land lease
contract provides otherwise. If the lessee fails to fulfil the
above obligations, the lessor shall have the right to recover
from him funds for performing the works specified above as well
as recover damages incurred by failure to fulfil duties set
forth in this Article and to terminate the land lease contract.
Article 14. The Lessee's Obligation to Pay Land Rent
The lessee of land must pay land rent by the date specified
in the land lease contract.
The procedure for paying rent for State-owned land shall be
established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
If privately-owned land is leased, the lessee may assume
liability to pay land tax for the lessor at the expense of land
rent or discharge other lessor's monetary liabilities to the
State.
Article 15. The Rights of Land Lessee
Unless the lease contract provides otherwise, the lessee of
land shall acquire the following rights:
1) to use the land parcel according to the principal
particular purpose of land utilisation for the activity permitted
under law;
2) to use agricultural land of the land parcel for the
production of agricultural produce, to dispose of the produce
and of the income received from land;
3) to build buildings, structures, facilities and roads and
install water bodies required for his activities upon
coordination of the above actions in the established manner and
with the consent of the land lessor; and
4) to use, for the needs of his farm (but not for sale),
surface and subterranean waters, mineral resources (with the
exception of amber, oil, natural gas and quartz-sand) found on
the land parcel as well as other useful properties of the
entrails of the earth in accordane with the requirements set
forth in laws and other standard acts.
The exploitation, sale and leasing of other natural
resources located on the land parcel shall be regulated by
appropriate laws and standard acts.
Article 16. Sublease of Land
Upon leasing land designated for agricultural purposes for a
period in excess of 3 years, the lessee may sublease the land to
a third person and only for the term of 3 years.
Natural and legal persons specified in Article 7 of this Law
may be sublessees.
Land designated for agricultural purposes may not be
subleased for any other purpose.
A contract of the sublease of land shall be concluded in
accordance with the requirements established for the land lease
contract.
The sublessee shall pay to the sublessor rent for the
subleased land according to the procedure established in the
contract. In the event that State-owned land is subleased, rent
for the subleased land may not be in excess of the rent for the
leased State-owned lans set to the lessor.
Upon the expiry of the term of the sublease contract, the
sublessee shall have no right to request that the sublease
contract be renewed.
Article 17. Reimbursement of the Lessee's Funds Used for
the Improvement of Land Designated for
Agricultural Purposes
The lessee's funds used for the improvement of land
designated for agricultural purposes shall be reimbursed only
provided that, prior to the commencement of land improvement
works, both parties agree on the character and scope of the work
and the amount of costs thereof.
Article 18. The Lessee's Right to Compensation for Built
Buildings, Structures and Facilities
Upon the expiry of the term of land lease or when the land
lease contract is rescinded prior to the expiry of its term, the
owner of the land must compensate the lessee for the built
buildings, stuctures and facilities or he may use them by
easement if this was provided for in the land lease contract or
in a supplementary written agreement.
Disputes concerning the amount of compensation shall be
settled in court.
Article 19. Validity of the Land Lease Contract upon the
Death of the Lessee
Upon the death of the lessee, the rights and duties incident
to the lease contract shall, upon the lessor's consent, descend
to the heirs of the lessee who must present, according to the
procedure established by the Government of the Republic of
Lithuania, data for the revision of records in the State Land
Register. The right to lease land designated for agricultural
purposes may pass only to the heir of the deceased lessee of land
who meets the requirements specified in part 2 of Article 7 of
this Law.
Article 20. Validity of the Land Lease Contract upon the
Change of the Lessor
Upon the death of the land owner, or upon the passage of the
land ownership right to another owner in the case of conveyance
of land or bankruptcy, or upon the change of the lessor of
State-owne land, the land lease contract shall continue to be
binding to the new owner of land or lessor of State-owned land.
The lease contract may be terminated only in the cases and under
the terms specified in Article 22 of this Law.
Article 21. Prohibition to Lease Mortgaged Land
Upon the failure of the owner of mortgaged land to satisfy
debt obligations by the date fixed in the mortgage contract and
after he receives from the agency to which the land was
mortgaged a notification to the effect that upon his failure to
repay the debt within a two months period the mortgaged land
will be sold by auction, said land may not be leased. Land lease
contracts concluded in violation of the above restraint may be
declared invalid by court.
Article 22. Termination of the Land Lease Contract
The land lease contract shall terminate:
1) upon the expiry of the term of lease, if the lease
contract was not prolonged within one month after the expiry of
the term;
2) upon the death of the lessee, if the rights and
obligations incident to the lease contract do not pass to the
heirs or if there are no heirs, or if the heirs of the lessee of
land designated for agricultural purposes do not meet the
requirements set forth in Article 7 of this Law;
3) upon liquidation of the entrprise, institution or
organisation which were the lessees of land;
4) upon the sale of the leased land, or its transfer as a
gift or in any other way to the lessee; and
5) upon the termination of the land lease contract in cases
provided for in Article 23, 24 and 25.
The contract for the lease of land designated for
agricultural purposes may be terminated only after the lessee
has gathered in the year's harvest.
Article 23. Termination of Land Lease Contract upon the
Taking of Land for Public Use
When the leased land is taken for public use, the land lease
contract shall be terminated and compensation for damages
according to the procedure established by law shall be determined
for the lessor and the lessee.
Article 24. Termination of Land Lease Contract at the
Lessor's Request prior to its Expiry
The land lease contract may be terminated at the lessor's
request prior to its expiry if the lessee of land:
1) fails to pay land rent within a period in excess of 3
months, if the leased land is privately-owned, or within a
period in excess of 6 months, if the leased land is State-owned,
after the date when the rent is due and payable as fixed in the
land lease contract, or if he fails to discharge other
liabilities specified in part 3 of Article 14 of this Law;
2) arbitrarily changes the principal particular purpose of
land utilisation; or
3) fails to fulfil the obligations specified in Article 13
of this Law.
A land lease contract with natural and legal persons of
foreign states shall be terminated if their licence for foreign
investment is revoked.
Upon the termination of a land lease contrsct the lessor
shall have the right to recover losses incurred by him.
A land lease contract may also be terminated prior to its
expiry if land designated for agricultural purposes is inherited
by a farmer or a person whose preparedness to engage in farming
has been confirmed in the established manner and provided that
the above persons desire themselves to engage in farming on the
leased land. In the above case, if the contract is due to expire
after more than a year, the lessor must pay the lessee a
compensation amounting to 2 years' average net income received
from the leased land parcel.
Article 25. Termination of a Land Lease Contract at the
Lessee's Request prior to the Expiry of its Term
A land lease contract may be terminated at the lessee's
request prior to the expiry of its term provided that the lessee
of agricultural land designated for agricultural purposes
notifies the lessor thereof no later than before 6 months, and,
in the case of land designated for other purposes, no later than
before 3 months.
A land lease contract may be terminated at the lessee's
request prior to the expiry of its term if the land lessor fails
to fulfil the obligations specified in Article 12 of this Law.
Article 26. The Priority Right of the Lessee of Land to
Prolong the Land Lease Contract
If, upon the expiry of term of the lease contract, several
other persons besides the previous lessee apply for the lease of
the land under identical conditions, the previous lessee who
orderly fulfilled obligations under the lease contract shall
have the right of priority.
Disputes concerning the prologation of land lease contract
shall be resolved by court.
Article 27. Investigation of Disputes Concerning Land
between the Lessors and Lessees of Land
Disputes concerning land between the lessors and lessees of
land as well as disputes concerning the contents of lease
contract, compliance with the terms and conditions thereof and
liability shall be investigated according to the procedure
established by the Republic of Lithuania Law on Land.
Disputes concerning land arising from civil matters may, by
agreement between the parties, be referred to the arbitration.
The regulations of the arbitration shall be approved by the
Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
Article 28. Control over the Compliance with the Land Lease
Contracts
Town and district local governments and State land-use
planning agencies shall exercise control over the compliance with
the contracts of lease of State-owned land.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic
of Lithuania.
ALGIRDAS BRAZAUSKAS
President
of the Republic
Vilnius
23 December 1993
No. I-354
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