An increasing number of unused buildings are being acquired in the Vitebsk region for tourism facilities and cafes

In recent months of the current year, the sale of unused real estate for the creation of agro-estates, peasant farms, and cafes has intensified in the Vitebsk region. Former educational and cultural facilities in rural areas are in demand at auctions organized by the Vitebskoblimushchestvo fund, reported the fund's director, Mikhail Pavlyuchkov.

Six unused buildings were sold at auctions in the pre-Christmas week alone. Half of them were former socio-cultural facilities located in rural areas. For example, on December 24, a single participant purchased the former music school building in the urban settlement of Lintupy, Postavy district, for which Br29.3 million was received by the budget. The building is located near an architectural monument - the Bishevskikh estate, built in the 19th century for a French actress. Previously, a Belarusian-Russian investor acquired a number of estate and park structures to create a cultural and recreational complex. Reconstruction is already underway, and now the owner has also acquired the former school building.

"Many former school, library, and culture house buildings are put up for auction. Small facilities are mainly acquired for organizing and running a subsidiary farm, and creating tourism facilities. Often, residents of Minsk and even Russians acquire such houses for housing or as dachas. For example, at the auction on December 22, former rural club buildings in the villages of Devino and Yurtsevo, Orsha district, were sold for the base value. The new owners plan to reconstruct the real estate for housing," explained the fund's specialists.

Mikhail Pavlyuchkov emphasized that although some decline in business solvency affects the number of bidders, Belarusian entrepreneurs and Russian investors see the benefit in the proposed purchase conditions, especially when the sale price is significantly reduced. The first day of auctions this week supported the emerging trend: unused areas decreased due to their sale with a 5% increase in the starting price. Thus, a whole complex of former storage buildings in the Verkhnedvinsk district with a total area of over 3.8 thousand sq.m. was acquired for Br1.6 million. And for more than Br32 million, an icehouse building in the agro-town of Opsa, Braslav district, was sold. In total, this year, up to and including December 28, the Vitebsk Regional Property Fund has sold 75 properties for a total amount of over Br14 billion. Unused area has decreased by more than 55 thousand sq.m. At the same time, the fund expects significant changes in these statistics even in the last days of this year: auctions for the sale of a number of attractive properties in Vitebsk are scheduled for December 30. Interest has already been shown in them, and applications for participation in the bidding are still being accepted.

Ekaterina Knyazeva, BELTA.