Maxim Sokolov, Director of the Department for industry and infrastructure in the RF Government, is the newly-elected President of the Guild of Property Managers and Developers (GMD). In his first post-election interview Mr. Sokolov is sharing his vision of the Russian real estate market and the Guild perspectives. 



— How do you see the GMD development under your leadership?

— Today the GMD membership and presence in Russian cities looks very impressive - 37 cities, investment, development, management, construction and other companies rendering professional services in the real estate ,market. They all are united by the one goal – establish efficient standards for successful business development. The main objective of the GMD President is to support the member companies. The Guild provides access to best-available professional knowledge through its committees and expert councils, which will continue projects on the introduction of standards for efficient business (classification of office and housing properties, energy efficiency and sustainability, professional training, etc.). The Guild is going to ensure the productive dialogue between business and authorities and provide advice to governmental decision-makers on the regional and federal levels.



— What do you think about the role of non-governmental organizations in the real estate market development?

— In order to increase the investment potential of Russian regions it is necessary to consolidate the whole construction & development business including power supply and road infrastructure. Today professional associations put forward legislative initiatives aimed at the reduction of administrative barriers. GMD plays the leading role in formulating the industry’s needs and proposing solutions for more efficient public-private projects and balanced development of the industry



— What do you think about the state support of the construction industry?

— The crisis has shown that the state (government) is the most stable market participant, and private companies have started to see it as a reliable and interesting partner. In my opinion the government should concentrate its efforts on a better quality of investment projects. We also should take extra efforts in simplifying administrative procedures and making decisions more transparent. The procedures, which developers have to go through, are extremely bureaucratized, and this influences the investment activity in the Russian real estate market.



– A year ago the RF Government approved measures for optimized control and permitting in the urban development and construction. What has been done? 

— Since then we have enacted a number of regulations of the federal level. Among other things, the regulations have shortened the list of requirements to the inventory of documents to be submitted for project implementation. The new regulations provide tools for the monitoring of decision-making and permitting process, after 2012 some governmental services will be provided via internet. In accordance with the RF Ministry for economic development the authorization of rights on a development project can be reduced to 30-90 days.

New amendments to the Land Code of the Russian Federation will facilitate the acquisition of plots for construction and foresee the allocation of means raised from the land sale to the site development.