UNECE - Working Party on Land Administration Workshop

15-17 October 2014, Vienna, Austria

Mika-Petteri TörhönenSenior Land Policy Specialist

20 Years of ECA Land Projects

Presentation Storyline

� Introduction to ECA land projects� Typical projects� Economic Analysis on the impact of ECA land projects� Lessons learned� Trends today� Credit to where its due

Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region

Countries30

Population 893,314,335

Land area (sq km) 27,381,299

Properties registered Estimated at 300-400 million

Land Projects Funded by the World Bank (1994-2014)

*40+ projects – loan amount for over $1.2 billion.

*21 stand-alone land projects

*16 projects under implementationtoday.

* Several under preparation

Three Stages of Land Administration Evolution� Progression of reforms on land and property rights in ECA:

1. Land Reform; property rights

2. Land administration; registers, real estate markets

3. Land management; sharing, integration, planning, taxation.

� While the World Bank supported projects in all these areas, governments did all the work and also others played a significant support role; for example EU, FAO, USAID, Austria,Germany, Sweden …

Thematic coverage of Bank Supported ECA land projects (1994-2014)

land reform land administration land management AlbaniaArmeniaAzerbaijanBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaEstoniaGeorgiaKazakhstanKosovoKyrgyz RepublicLatviaMacedonia FYROMMoldovaMontenegroPolandRomaniaRussiaSerbiaSloveniaTajikistanTurkeyUkraineUzbekistan

Land Reform Projects

� Assignment of Land rights to individuals; 300 – 400 million properties� Restitution of property to original owners.� Optional compensation instead of the literal restitution –

State disposed the lands further.� Revitalization of cadastral records and the registration system

to facilitate sales, leases and mortgages on land.� Game changers in the economy.

[Note: Apart from few countries, the Bank’s role was rather limited in the land reform projects]

Land Management Projects

� Planning� Regularization � Mass appraisal systems� Land consolidation� Land use monitoring; EU systems (LPIS, IACS)

[Note: The Bank’s engagement in land management in ECA has increased recently.]

13+1 Bank Supported Land Registration Projects� National registration system of real estate rights and transactions� Systematic registration of all parcels and buildings. � Institutional reforms - single agencies - financial sustainability� ICT; joint or unified systems, one-stop-shops and e-conveyancingà Office networks, financial sustainabilityà Volume escalations: transaction, mortgages, revenuesà Efficiency; from months to days and hours.à Loan interest rate impact.

� Major implementation support collaboration betweenand and donors.

Economic Impact of 13 Land Registration Projects (1997 – 2012)� Armenia; Land Titling Project� Azerbaijan; Agricultural Development and Credit Project� Bosnia and Herzegovina; Land Registration Project� Bulgaria; Registration and Cadastre Project� Croatia; Real Property Registration and Cadastre Project� Kazakhstan; Real Estate Registration Pilot Project� Kyrgyzstan; Land and Real Estate Registration Project� Moldova; First Cadastre Project� Romania; General Cadastre and Land Registration Project� Russia; Cadastre Development Project� Serbia; Real Estate Cadastre and Registration Project� Slovenia; Real Estate Registration Modernization Project� Ukraine; Rural Land Titling Project

US$ 483 million of investment*

* Includes funding from the World Bank, cofinanciers, and client governments

Economic Impact of Land Registration Projects

US$ 483 million US$ 1,072 million2.22x

� Economic impact is estimated at 2.22x the initial investment*� Return on investment of 122%� Estimated total short-term and long-term benefit to the economy of a

single registration is estimated at US$ 16.13

* Excludes the project in Kazakhstan due to the lack of adequate data on the project’s economic impact. In the case of Moldova, the economic impact is defined based on the economic impact per registration derived from data for six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine. All other numbers retrieved from respective project ICRs.

Economic Rates of Return Estimates (ERRs) Country Project Name ERR

(%) Bosnia and Herzegovina Land Registration Project 47 Croatia Real Property Registration and Cadastre Project 12 Romania General Cadastre and Land Registration 14 Serbia Real Estate Cadastre and Registration 128 Slovenia Real Estate Registration Modernization 12 Ukraine Rural Land Titling Project 31

20 Years of ECA Land Projects; Keys to successful land administration

� Clear rights, policy and law and institutional responsibilities.� Long term commitment and political will.� Training of public and private sectors à quality services� Focus to functioning systems rather than covering records. � Public perception and participation! � ICT.� Feasible surveying standards.� Self-funding, revenue generating activities.

Doing Business Index 2014; Registering Property

1 Georgia 11 Estonia 2 New Zealand 12 Kyrgyz Republic 3 Belarus 13 Iceland 4 United Arab Emirates 14 Bahrain 5 Norway 15 Azerbaijan 6 Lithuania 16 Kazakhstan 7 Armenia 17 Russian Federation 8 Denmark 18 Portugal 9 Rwanda 19 Saudi Arabia

10 Slovak Republic 20 Guatemala

ECA’s Property Registration Reputation

What’s Topical in 2014?� NSDI; Geoportals� Property valuation and taxation using cadastre data� Cadastre map renewal - Electronic submissions � Crowdsourcing - eGovernance – Open data� Making the business case:àà First registration (return on investment ratio 6:1)

� Institutional development – sustainability of organizations –Public private partnership

� State land management� Cadastre and social questions; Gender – Roma property rights …

Cadastre and Social Questions

Credit to WPLA; The Publication that made the Difference in ECA

ECE/HBP/96ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPEGeneva

LAND ADMINISTRATION GUIDELINESWith Special Reference to Countries in Transition

UNITED NATIONSNew York and Geneva, 1996