Destruction of monuments will be prohibited

Deputies of the State Duma approved in the third reading the draft law, which fixes fines for damaging cultural heritage objects in the millions roubles. According to the document, the amount of the fine for destruction or demolition of a historic and cultural landmark is increased to 60 million roubles – the legal entities that dare to violate the integrity of a monument dubbed World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The liability of official and civil persons for damaging other types of valuable buildings is also increased. Approval by the Council of Federation and the President of Russia is now required for the initiative to be adopted.

A similar draft law containing, however, less strict sanctions, was adopted by the Moscow City Duma regarding the local landmarks.

Ekaterina Motyvan, Lawyer of the Law Firm "YUST":

The draft law stipulates a significant increase of the amount of the fine for violations of use and protection of cultural heritage objects (up to 20 million roubles), and the fine for destruction of or damage to especially valuable cultural heritage objects of any category (federal, regional or municipal) may go all the way up to 60 million roubles. We believe that that amount is significant for the developers, and should the provisions be enacted, the risk of fines may in fact decrease the number of violations in that sphere.

As a whole, the modern tendency appears positive: the Russian law-makers keep eliminating opportunities for legalization of unauthorized constructions, and the suggested measure could be very effective in those conditions.

For more details see here.