ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the situation, definition, prospects and needs of individual farms in Russia. Internal and external leasing has been used widely in areas of the country, such as northern European Russia, which have lost much of their population to the cities. More radical land reform legislation, such as the measures adopted in the Russian Republic in late 1990 and 1991, was needed to create true individual farms. A major political battle developed over allowing individuals to secede from the collectives in the Russian Republic. Russian President Yeltsin’s December 1991 decrees reemphasized farmers’ right to leave and required all kolkhozy and sovkhozy to reorganize. Most importantly, the Russian constitutional prohibition on purchase and sale of land blocks the creation of a normal credit market and prevents the assembly of rationally-sized farms from the shares farmers receive when their kolkhoz or sovkhoz is divided.
