The right to make forest block lease contracts for another term without auction procedures and the basic principles of forest law

Introduction: the article covers the problems of exercising a lessee’s right to make a forest block lease contract for another term with no auction procedures in the light of the basic principles of forest law. The main problematics resulted from the 2007-2008 procedure of reissuance of forest block lease contracts made at auction in accordance with the prior Forest Code of the Russian Federation, and the refusal of law enforcement agencies to recognize these lease relations as single and effective after the new Forest Code of the Russian Federation was adopted in 2007. Purpose: to provide a theoretical assessment of the lessors ’ refusal to enter into forest block lease contracts with the good faith lessees for another term through no auction procedure, and to assess the compliance of these refusals with the principles of forest legislation. Methods: the dialectical method was used in research as the main one: the right to make a forest block lease contract for another term through no auction procedure is viewed with reference to its genesis, nature, purpose and differentiation from the priority right to make a forest block lease contract for another term on the basis of the results of an auction. Results: it is proved that the re-issuance of a lease contract resulted in a single effective relation between a lessee and a lessor which had arisen on the basis of an auction and was documented in two lease agreements, and that the re-issuance procedure did not cancel the legal basis of the relations commencement (i.e. the auction being won by the lessee) and did not affect the lease duration. Therefore, the good faith lessees who won forest-related auctions, subsequently re-issued the lease contracts, and used the forest blocks for a period of 10 years or more, have the right to conclude lease contracts for a new period without auctions. This approach corresponds to the basic principles of forest law (the need to conserve forests, ensure the quality of forests, sustainably use forests, etc.).