The Russian parliament last month approved the Land Code Bill, allowing limited private ownership of land for agriculture. The bill has strong dissenters, including the communist and agrarian parties, who have raised several important objections to the private ownership of agricultural land. Russia has to promote private ownership of land if it is to achieve its objectives of establishing a market economy and lure greater investment in agriculture. However, the government needs to ensure that such privatisation is not misused, benefiting a few at the cost of the larger interests of the country
