In Belarus, the procedure for disposing of abandoned vehicles will be simplified from January 1, 2012.

10 August, Minsk /BELTA/. The procedure for the disposal of abandoned vehicles in Belarus will be simplified from January 1, 2012. President of Belarus signed Decree No. 348 "On Measures for Organising the Collection, Storage of Non-operational Vehicles and their Subsequent Disposal" on August 9, BELTA was informed by the press service of the Head of State. The adoption of the document is driven by the need for legislative regulation of the organisation of storage and collection of non-operational vehicles for their subsequent disposal. The Decree provides for the criteria under which a vehicle is subject to disposal; the procedure for identifying such vehicles and establishing their owners; incentives or coercion for the owner to dispose of a non-operational vehicle; and the organisation of collection of non-operational vehicles subject to disposal. The functions of identifying vehicles subject to disposal and establishing their owners are assigned to local executive and administrative bodies, which are responsible for common use lands of settlements, adjacent territories, yards and surrounding areas. At the same time, this does not exclude the delegation of powers or the creation of a specialised organisation that will perform tasks related to non-operational vehicles. According to the regional executive committees, approximately 4.5 thousand non-operational vehicles stored on common use lands of settlements, adjacent territories, yards and surrounding areas are subject to disposal. Since the disposal of these vehicles involves either their processing or further use by the owner (and this use should not be related to the vehicle's participation in road traffic), such actions are possible only if the vehicle is deregistered with the traffic police. For this reason, the Decree provides that the vehicle owner is sent a notification about the need to remove the vehicle, and is also informed about the possibility of compulsory relocation and placement of the vehicle in a guarded parking lot.

The owner is informed about the procedure for storing, deregistering and disposing of a vehicle, as well as for waiving ownership rights to it. Such clarifications will be provided when a vehicle is registered with the State Traffic Inspectorate units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as by the Ministry of Industry, and local executive and administrative bodies within the framework of environmental protection measures related to the use of secondary resources. If the vehicle owner fails to take measures to move the vehicle to a guarded parking lot within one month from the date of receiving a notification about the possibility of forced evacuation of the vehicle, an act shall be drawn up in the prescribed form, and the vehicle shall be forcibly moved to a guarded parking lot, of which the owner shall be promptly informed. Within three months, the owner has the right to demand the return of the equipment, provided that they reimburse the costs associated with the forced movement and storage of the vehicle. They are also obliged to reimburse these costs if they do not file such a claim within the established period. If no claim for the return of the vehicle is received from the owner within three months, the local executive and administrative body shall file an application with the court to recognize the vehicle as ownerless and transfer it to the ownership of the administrative-territorial unit, as well as to reimburse the costs associated with the forced movement and storage of the inoperative vehicle. It is proposed to exempt local executive and administrative bodies from the state duty for filing such applications with the court. If it is impossible to establish the owners of abandoned vehicles, the competent authority shall carry out the forced evacuation of such vehicles and their storage in a guarded parking lot, ensure the acquisition of ownership rights to them in the manner prescribed by legislative acts, and their subsequent disposal. Revenues from disposal shall be credited to the relevant budget of the competent authority. The Decree comes into force on January 1, 2012.-0-

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