215 



The present constitution is not the most relevant document to consult on the question of 

 land ownerhship. It was adopted in 1977 under Brezhnev, when the Soviet Union was 

 communist, so of course it has no provision for private ownership of land. The constitution 

 since then has had over 300 amendments, leaving it both contradictory and inconsistent. 

 Neither the Russian Congress nor the President consider the present Constitution 

 satisfactory. On the other hand, every significant piece of land legislation since late 1990 

 includes a clause about the legality and desirability of private property. For the past three 

 years, the official governmental policy has been to favor the existence of private property 

 and to facilitate the existence of a "multiplicity" of land ownership in the countryside, 

 including both private and collective ownership. 



