Market Know-how: Splashing Out on Ponds

“Practically any owner of a plot measuring over 6 sotkas (one sotka is one hundredth of a hectare) considers building a small pond on their estate. If there is no natural pond available many build artificial water features,” says Alexander Kiselyov, first deputy director of the Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute. But for the project to pay back and prove rewarding the pond must be used not only as a decorative feature. Sometimes, owners of land plots launch fishing farms on their estates.

Two Options

Valeria Rodionova, head of the Solyanka branch at the company Novy Gorod, notes that those who plan to establish a fishery of their own have two options, either to set up a farm open for fee-fishing (fishers pay for their catch and may cook it on their own or with the help of professional cooks) or to grow fish for sale or for the needs of one’s own restaurant or retail chain. “Owners of retail and catering companies grow berries, fruits and vegetables for their stores and restaurants and gradually they come to realize the need for a fishing farm of their own,” the expert says.

Maxim Sukharkov, head of out-of-town real estate at Soho Realty, says that fee-fishing artificial lakes are available in many countryside compounds, for example, in Sputnik, situated at the 32nd km of Novorizhskoye Shosse, or Gribovo, at the 12th km of Minskoye Shosse. “Many are operating along Kaluzhskoye and Minskoye motorways,” he adds. In some settlements fishing facilities are available to the public at large, as well as to local residents. In such cases, fishery turns into a separate commercial project. Sukharkov cites the example of Polivanovo where all anglers are able to fish for a fee in comfort.

In the opinion of Valeria Rodionova, a fishing farm is not just a lake but a complex featuring entertainment facilities, such as a bathhouse, campfire areas, etc. Health resorts outside Moscow offer such services, she says. But such fisheries are not always profitable. “Building any fishery from scratch, i.e. building a pond on your estate, is by no means a rewarding business, as turning expensive land into water is hardly reasonable,” Rodionova says. Entrepreneurs prefer renting existing lakes or parts of a river and build all the necessary amenities on the lakeside.

“The best locations are Ozerninskoye, Ivankovskoye and Mozhaiskoye water reservoirs,” says Marina Markarova, managing director at Blackwood. “Given their remote location and little anthropogenic load they are considered the cleanest in the Moscow Region,” she adds. Another advantage is the low cost of land in the area. Plots of land are cheaper there than at the Istra reservoir and other lakes closer to the city. But those willing to open a fishery near water reservoirs cannot avoid certain problems, says Valeria Rodionova. “From the legal standpoint, that will require securing long-term leasehold with serious restrictions as to construction, felling, drainage, etc.,” she says.

Letter of Law

Someone who ventures on building a fishing farm on his own estate is not likely to face any problems of legal nature, lawyers say. Perhaps, they won’t even have to secure permission from the federal government, in particular, Rosprirodnadzor (the Surveillance Agency of Management of Natural Resources).

“Fish-breeding lakes are usually built mostly in old sand-pits, filled with water from nearby streams. To set up a fishery it is necessary to secure a freehold title to a plot of land and apply to the Moscow Region government for a permission to build an artificial pond, acquire necessary permissions from all the government bodies concerned (for the plot to be included in the general plan for the region’s development), get the project approved by environmental authorities and architectural bodies,” says Yuri Borisenko, head of the real estate, land and construction department at the Vegas Lex law firm.

Afterwards, the applicant will need to apply to the Ministry of Agriculture for that agency to sanction construction, whereupon his plot of land will be reclassified accordingly as waterside land by the local government, which is to issue a decree to the effect.

Maxim Popov, senior lawyer at Pepeliaev, Goltsblat & Partners, says that such facilities do not always have to be reclassified as quite often they are not connected with other water sources. “There are no serious hindrances as long as the plot in question is classified as arable or urban land,” he says. “Where a plot originally was classified as industrial land it is easier to have it reclassified as arable than urban, for to have it reclassified as urban it is necessary to expand some urban settlement, alter the general plan, etc.” Arable lands are more suitable for the purpose, he adds. “If you build an artificial pond it will be called an independent water feature and belong to the estate,” the lawyer says.

“Landowners who plan building a water pond or a fishery on their estates will have at any rate secure necessary permissions from several agencies beginning with the local government, sanitary and land-use authorities. Most likely, reclassification of land will be required,” says Timur Saifutdinov, deputy general director at Terra Nedvizhimost. Depending on which category the plot belongs to and if reclassification is necessary the whole procedure may prove more or, on the contrary, less time-consuming.

“The most time-consuming procedure is reclassification of land, it may take up to 12 months, but it is quite possible to have it done within 8 months. On the whole, the entire procedure may take up to 2 years,” Yuri Borisenko says. Maxim Popov says: “Where a plot of land is classified as arable it is necessary to obtain permission for building a fishery on the estate, whereupon the owner is to acquire additional permission for construction, commission an environmental examination and register the title to the water facility.” The legal procedure may take longer if the pond is to filled with water from a nearby river, Borisenko notes. In that case the owner will have to obtain permission from the federal agency, Rosprirodnadzor.

“Usually, landowners building artificial lakes on their estates take water from a water well, for which they pay. Taking water from a public river requires permission. Taking water is one thing, but pouring it into the pond is quite another matter for it has to undergo quality control,” Alexander Kiselyov explains. Fisheries often use water from wells, springs and bogs available on the plot, he says. Timur Saifutdinov notes that at any rate it is necessary to inspect the plot and take water and soil samples. “It is necessary to find out how soil and groundwater would respond to construction of an artificial lake. It is necessary to make sure that there is no risk of erosion or landslide,” he says.

After those procedures are completed the owner is to register an agricultural co-operative or an agricultural company, says Yuri Borisenko. “Most likely, the farm will require construction of water engineering facilities and sanitary checks,” he adds. Such farms are liable to land-use tax but exempt from water-use payments as artificial ponds are part of a land plot.

Water Diversity

Fishing farms fall into two categories. The most popular fisheries in Russia are those specializing in breeding carp and plant-feeding species, mostly of 3 years, weighing over 1 kg, but sometimes the pond is stocked with smaller species of 300 to 400 g, specialists report. In order to attract anglers farmers usually fills such lakes with “prize” fish of 3 to 5 kg. The quantity of stock depends on the size of the pond, flowage and depth, temperature in winter and summer, oxygen content, etc.

Nurse ponds are used for breeding of trout, sturgeon, and carp. Quite often such farms operate in water reservoir coolers at power stations but rarely in the river. Trout needs a pond with a minimum depth of 4 meters, fishing is possible in temperatures from 0 to 24 degrees Celsius. To create truly comfortable conditions for trout it is necessary to install aeration facilities to ensure high level of oxygen content in the pond all year round.

Breeding of sturgeon requires a clean pond, not very large in size, stocked with sterlet or Siberian sturgeon. Trout and sturgeon are winter-hardy species, therefore, such ponds are suitable for winter fishing, provided they are equipped with aeration systems. Besides, it is necessary to add perch, burbot, bream, pike perch (zander) and cat-fish – species popular with winter anglers. Such approach is important also where large-scale fish breeding is concerned, for example, sturgeon breeding for caviar production.

There are plans to build an experimental farm outside Moscow, specializing in breeding of unique species of sturgeon for the purposes of caviar production, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. In three years the farmers plan to harvest 1 ton of caviar per 10 tons of fish.

Alexander Kiselyov has reported that major fisheries, such as Yegoryevsky, Leninskoye Znamya, Klinsky and Serebryanye Prudy, have been operating in the Moscow Region since the Soviet times.

Small privately run farms are growing across the region, too, says Maxim Sukharkov. “A pond stocked with fish is a sort of an amenity that makes a countryside more appealing to potential clients,” he says. But some real estate analysts are quite skeptical. “The high cost of land in the Moscow Region will hinder development of such businesses,” says Marina Markarova.

In early April, the State Duma gave final approval to the draft law outlining the procedure for enacting the Water Code of the Russian Federation, which will take effect on January 1, 2007. The law introduces changes to the Civil Code and the law on real estate registration; in line with those changes titles to and deals with water engineering facilities shall be subject to state registration with the single state register of titles.

The new law poses a serious threat to owners of waterside developments as it orders dismantling of buildings raised within 20 meters’ distance from waterfront as such are proclaimed common-use areas in the new law. As a result, owners of lakeside or riverside country houses will lose title to their developments and plots. Remarkably, the Communist Party faction in the State Duma stood up for landowners. The Communists intend to challenge the Water Code in the Constitutional Court of Russia.