The Dagestan Ministry of Property has declared the lease of pastures near the village of Ashaga-Yarak legal.

The director of Yarak LLC, which has leased a plot of land for transhumance near the village of Ashaga-Yarak for almost 20 years, has not changed, and the terms of the land lease remain unchanged. The agreement was concluded legally, the Ministry of Property of Dagestan assured.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, residents of the village of Ashaga-Yarak in the Khiva district have nowhere to graze their cattle as a result of the sale of land for transhumance, participants in a video message complained to the head of Dagestan.

The Ministry of Land and Property Relations of Dagestan published clarifications today in connection with the appeal of residents of the village of Ashaga-Yarak in the Khiva district.

"The land plot of 320 hectares was leased to Yarak LLC back in 2006. This plot is classified as agricultural land and is intended for transhumance. Territorially, the plot is located within the boundaries of the Tabasaran district. From the moment the agreement was concluded until today, this The land plot is leased to Yarak LLC. During this entire period, the land has not been sold, transferred, or assigned to third parties. The lease remains with the same business entity," the ministry said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

The ministry indicated that Rovshan Misrikhanov has been the director of Yarak LLC since 2006. "During the entire term of the agreement, there has been no change in the company's management. The founder of the LLC from its inception was also an individual. In 2025, the change of founder was officially registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The change of the organization's founder does not constitute the sale or transfer of the land. The land was not alienated, and the terms of the lease agreement remained the same," the ministry assured, emphasizing that "no illegal actions were committed in relation to this land."

"The land continues to be used legally in accordance with its intended purpose and the current lease agreement," the department added.

At the same time, ministry representatives promised that "a meeting will be held next week with an initiative group of residents of the village of Ashaga-Yarak," during which clarifications on land use issues will be provided.

In Dagestan, the problem of settlements located on lands used for transhumance remains pressing. In July 2022, the republic's Constitutional Court deemed it necessary to reclassify inhabited lands used for transhumance as populated areas and legalize the settlements that had spontaneously formed on them. Following this, more than 100 residents of the lowland districts (Kayakent, Babayurt, Kumtorkalin, Kizilyurt, and Karabudakhkent) held a meeting in Makhachkala. They demanded the resolution be rescinded, deeming it to be "legalizing the seizure of land."

Transhumance lands are the property of Dagestan, have a special status, and are not subject to privatization, as stated in the law "On the Status of Transhumance Lands in the Republic of Dagestan."