The First Cadastre Project

“In a short period of time, we have managed to create a modern system for identifying and registering real estate and ownership rights.”

Moldovan farmers now truly own their land
 
Up until 1999, Anatol Cibotaru, a 27-year-old Moldovan farmer from the village of Costuleni, had no official documents to show that he was the real owner of his two-hectare plot of land. Thanks to the World Bank–supported First Cadastre Project, Cibotaru finally feels secure. His title to the land was finally recorded. Now, if he wants, he can sell his property and move to the city without any problems arising during the sale, he says.
 
Cibotaru is one of millions of new landowners who have benefited after the Republic of Moldova switched to a market economy in 1990. Although the country had privatized the large state-owned farms, the new landowners' titles were not registered properly. As a result, they were unable to sell their land, transfer it to their heirs, or use it as collateral for a loan. There was no unified recording system at the time of the change; mayors, real estate agencies, and notaries split the registration duty and the landowners were exposed to uncertainty and counterclaims. As a result, people who wanted to sell their property had to go to numerous institutions and spend a lot of time and money.

World Bank helps Moldova to modernize its land registration system
 
To eliminate this chaos, the Government of Moldova asked the World Bank to carry out a study of real estate recording systems and registration of property rights. The Bank carried out a pilot project in three zones that ended in 1997 and led to the law on land records in 1998. 

A modernization program is being implemented in two stages; under the World Bank's First Cadastre Project between 1998 and 2003, and between 2004 and 2010.
 
The goal of the World Bank's First Cadastre Project - for US$24.6 million - is to develop and implement a national unified real estate registration program for urban and rural land, thereby establishing a system of clear and enforceable ownership rights. This would also promote the privatization of land and the development of real estate markets in Moldova. 
 
“With the help of the World Bank and donor countries we have managed to create, in a short period of time, a modern system for identifying and registering real estate and ownership rights,” says Valeriu Ganju, the project's deputy manager.
 
To fulfill these objectives, the legal and institutional framework necessary for building a land registry had to be created, including the framework for real estate assessments. The implementation of a land registry has revitalized private land ownership.

Investments in property increase

Overall, about 4.2 million pieces of real estate were identified and registered during the implementation of the First Cadastre Project. This development of the property market has in turn contributed to economic growth by increasing investments in real estate now that ownership rights are clear.

Real estate transactions jumped 6.5-fold from 1999 to 2003 (from 23,000 deals annually in 1999 to 150,000 in 2003). The number of mortgages insured went up 10-fold during the same period, from 1,000 to 10,000.
 
Ganju says that although World Bank experts have praised Moldova's land registration project as one of the best in the region, much remains to be done. He stresses the importance of improving property assessments, which would benefit citizens by establishing a fair value for the land that they acquired free of charge, and also local administrations by increasing tax revenue.
 
Finally, using leftover funds, the project's implementation team intends to create a modern information system that will connect all users of the land registry to the central database. This will reduce the time taken for transactions and increase their security, and help attract investment  into Moldova.