A plan to accelerate the development of the far east region. The new law was passed eight months later in may 2016. Its known as the far east one hectare law. The new law states that all russian citizens will be able to borrow one hectare of land in the far east free of charge. If they make effective use of the land, the law says it is theirs to keep after five yeas. S russias far east region covers 6. 2 million square kilometers, accounting for one third of the nations territory. The land is rich in natural resources, above and below ground. But Human Resources are scarce. The regions population has been in decline ever since the collapse of the soviet union. The number stands at around 6 Million People today. And is projected to fall to just over 5 million by 2050. The land grant law is designed to stem the outflow of people, and contribute to new development in the region. Local residents began applying on june 1st. I will apply, i intend to farm and grow berries. This is a good law. Its a great opportunity for people with initiative. I have a project i want to begin. The problem is, it will cost a lot of money to get started. We have to find a way to stop people from leaving the far east. While also attracting new residents. Giving away land will encourage people to stay in the far east region. President putin is offering free land. We look at how russians are respond i responding. This is a video made by the russian government to promote the new law. Following the enactment of the far east one hectare law, all russian citizens will be able to receive one hectare of land in the far east, free of charge. Current residents of the far east can make applications from june 1st. Applications can only be made in pilot districts. From february 1st, 2017, all russian citizens will be able to apply. Application procedures can be completed online. If you access the site you can select a plot and apply. If you cannot use the internet, you can also apply by post. The government has selected nine areas of the far east region to pilot the scheme. One of them is the district of hanga. Around 200 kilometers north of vladivostok. Most people here are farmers, but their numbers are dwindling fast. The population stands at 22,000. Thats down 20 from 10 years ago. Were in the village here at the District Office people can apply for land under the far east one hectare law. Staff tell us many people who come asking about free land dont have internet access. We provide people with information about available land. If they want to apply, we help them with the online procedures. Irina is showing us how to submit an application. Clicking on the home page reveals a map of the far east. The far east is divided into nine administrative regions. And each region has a pilot district. Ireina zooms in and then into te district wedged between the chinese border and lake hanka. Available land is shown in white. To claim their stake, applicants just click on a plot. Basically speaking, applicants are free to choose any shape for their plot of land. We can offer advice on a suitable arrangement. This is to make sure people dont select an inappropriate plot resulting in land going to waste. We also have to make sure that the area does not overlap with land that has already been applied for. Hanka district began accepting applications on june 1st. One month later it had received about 850. One of those applications came from bee keeper Victor Baranov victor keeps his hives on vacant land belonging to the village. But he wants his own property. He and his wife have been in the business for 25 years. His 25 hives produce around 2 tons of honey a year its very sweet honey. A good fragrance with the unique taste. It smells like a figure tree. I love this job. Theyre always together. The best part is collecting the honey. That is the most enjoyable. Its really enjoyable. I love spending time with my husband. Victor and alina first met as children. They married in 1982, during the soviet era, victor worked as a driver for a state farm. Elena too worked for the state as a kindergarten teach er forced to support themselves after the soviet union collapsed in 1991. The couple began keeping bees. Theyve raised three children. The honey they sell is 100 pure. Their bees love to feed on flowers from a type of figure tree. You know the honey from the figure tree is nothing like normal honey. The taste is completely different. The flowers from the tree have such a sweet frayigrance. Theyre very proud of their honey. What they really need is more figure trees. Their new land is not far away. A 20 minute drive along a country road. The plot is in the middle of a fo fore forest. I put a sign on this tree here. It means that this land has been taken. So it belongs to you . Thats right. No one else can have it now. The new land holders say this is perfect land for bee keeping. The gently sloping plot helps to encourage a light breeze. But most important are the figure trees. Theyre all over this area, which is why victor was determined to claim it. Theyve bloomed. Figure trees are the first to start flowering in this area. We make other types of honey too, but the figure tree honey is our bestseller. The taste is on a totally different level. I notice that your tshirt says dreams come true. Really . I never noticed. They have come true. They have. Victor now has the land he always wanted. For him and his wife, the future smell smells sweet. On the banks of lake hanka. The owner of this cottage is also dreaming of new land. Like the baranovs hes true local stock. Resourceful and independent. I designed this house by myself. I hired local people to help build it. We worked on construction togeth together. This is a Traditional Russian device for boiling water called a samivar. Every day, vladimir uses it to make tea. Vladimir runs a Construction Machinery rental company in in one of the larger cities in the region. Around 10 years ago, he built himself a second home. And now this is where he spends the majority of his we asked vladimir to show us the land he had applied for. He calls up the map of hanka district. Unfortunately the Internet Connection breaks down. He tries again, a number of times. But no luck. Instead he uses a regular map. Hes filed a joint application with relatives, requesting a total of 11 hectares. Why did you choose this location . I have lived and invested in this village for 10 years. Thats why i decided to choose some land near my house. I know the area around here really well. People who want to succeed can grab their opportunity. The government is offering us land. Why would you say no . Vladimir agrees to show us his opportunity of a lifetime. His new land is about 10 minutes away by buggy. Its a relatively flat plot on top of some high ground. The land we applied for is from here to the forest over there. Thats a nature reserve, so its not available. A sur veiler will determine the boundaries. How are you going to use this land . I think this site would be a good place to raise horses. It would also be ideal for putting in fields to grow something, and do some farming. I have various ideas. Im going to take my time. Ive already put my claim on this land. Now, i can work out how to use it to my advantage but while aspiring landowners ponder the future. Hanka district officials are still finetuning the application process, and they seem to be having some problems. In some cases the governments mapping system is giving away land that overlaps with an existing land holder. If someone applies for the land we have to refuse. There have been more than 500 cases like this. At the moment, many local residents are filing applications to get ahold of the land. They want it because its free. If something is free, russian people get ahold of it while they can. They think they dont have to do anything for five years. I think theyre taking the wrong approach. The one hectare long is the trump card in president putins efforts to develop the far east. Its meant to tackle the most serious problem. An ecxodous of people. In soviet times, government incentives were put in place to make sure the region had the needed population for development. When the soviet union collapsed, these incentives were scrapped as the government rushed to introduce a market economy. In the turmoil that followed, people in the far east were hit especially hard. Many left the region looking for work. Over the next 25 years, the far east lost one quarter of its population. The overall population continues to fall. But a particular issue is the outflow of young people. What do younger people think about their prospects here. We spoke to local University Students and news agency employ employee. Do your friends want to leave vladvostok . I dont have so many friends. But if you pick any five, three would definitely leave. Thats right. I think most people leave. Why do you think that is . Everyone is chasing their own dreams. Do you think you will stay here in vladvostok . No. I think ill go somewhere else too. Im working here now, though. To publicize the land grant program, the russian government has launched a new organization. Its known as the agency for the development of Human Capital in the far east. The agencys home page has a quote from president putin. It reads, the development of the far east region is the most critical issue facing russia in the 21st century. The website urges people to consider the ways they could use a hectare of free land. Along with business plans. One suggestion is strawberry cultivation. The land holder would need to invest about 12,000 and wait 12 months to start generating profits. No need for specialist knowledge and quick profits are possible. Farming rabbits is another recommendation. Funding of 46,000 would generate income within eight months. Rabbits breed quickly. So do profits apparently. Dairy farming requires 260,000 to get started. And a fiveyear wait for initial profits. 100 hectares would be needed to provide enough grass. But government subsidies are availab available. Land is plentiful in the far east. Studies show that there are 140 million hectares of potential farmland. Thats enough to give one hectare to every russian citizen. We hope this land will become farmland. And people will start cultivating it to generate agricultural products. If we produce safe high quality goods, they could be exported to countries in the asia and pacific region. Key to those hopes is the younger generations. The government is organizing forums across russia to encourage potential migrants. These events explain the one hectare law and how young people can benefit. That is the official pitch. But how are young locals in v d vladvostok responding. This is an online news agency. The ten journalists working here, report on events in the region. Caterina has been a reporter for five years. I wrote a story about the land grant law in april. Before it was enacted. I was curious to find out if the government system will be able to handle a rush of application s so i spoke to system programmers and government officials about this. On this day, she wants to find out what young people make of the new law. Hi, can i ask you a few questions . Do you know about the one hectare law . Yes. I heard that anyone can apply to get land. When you heard about it . Yes. Did you want to apply . I looked it up online, but the procedures were a bit of a pain. I wondered if there wasnt another way to do it. Maybe i would if it was easier. Young people are interested. But most of them dont have enough money to pay for a house. You need millions of rubels. I dont think any young people have that kind of money, do they . I had to look at it, but i couldnt think of anything i would do with the land. I decided not to bother. Would you in the future . Id think about it, but the procedures are complicated, and i dont need land right now. All of the land is way out of town. And i think there would be all kinds of problems. Back in the office, caterina summarizes the results of her interviews. She sees problems ahead. People think that procedure is too complicated. Location is another issue. More people will be interested in nearby land with good infrastructure. And it wont be easy to get effective results within five years. The land is free, but it takes time and money to start producing something. Some of these complaints seem to have reached the top level. In early august, a newspaper printed a statement from a high ranking official. Deputy Prime Minister is the original advocate of the law. This is what he had to say. In the first month after the laws enactment. There were more than 2,000 applications and 69 people already have their land. Now, the most important thing is for us to encourage the russian people to become involved. We need to reduce the time required to complete the procedures. So citizens can acquire the land as soon as possible. Economist zarna supports the ruling party united russia, and has great hopes for the one hectare law. Translator legislators were drafting this law, an opinion poll indicated 30 Million People are interested in moving to the far east. And if just one third of those people make the move, then the law will be a huge success in bringing development to this region. Despite those hopes, she says potential settl east, need more than free land. I dont think providing land for free is going to be enough for the project to succeed, some changes need to be made to related laws. Imagine you move to a forested area in the far east, without enough infrastructure. Its impossible to live without electricity, gas and heating. These projects need various kinds of support. Its too much for one person to do. Forums were held on the far east one hectare law, these issues were discussed. For people who want to move to the far east, the infrastructure issue is extremely important. The far east is a place for pioneers and free land is encouraging people to dream big. The regions future prosperity will depend on how many other russians decide to join them. Today on global 3000 we head to chile to check out affordable Living Options for people on low incomes. In rwanda, environmentalists are trying to prevent a wetland from drying up. But first we go to afghanistan, where there is still a complete lack of security. What does this mean for its people . Should they leave or should they stay at co stay . The number of civilian casualities in afghanistan has reached a recordhigh. 5,166 people were killed or injured in the First Six Months of this year alone. Almost a third of them children victims of almost constant suicide attacks, bombs and explosions