MOSCOW, March 28 - RAPSI. The bill approved by the Federation Council allowing the Moscow authorities to seize land from owners in the newly incorporated areas of Moscow abuses residents' rights, says Igor Kovpak, chairman of the board of the Interregional Developers' Union non-profit partnership and a member of the Russian Civic Chamber.

"The simplified procedure for the seizure of private land infringes on the rights of people who have been living on this land for years, generations even," Kovpak said. "The new rules effectively allow the authorities to just take the land from owners. It is one thing to seize land from companies which use it for commercial purposes, but seizing people's houses and vegetable gardens is quite another," he said in a statement posted on the Civic Chamber website.

The Federation Council on Wednesday approved a bill on an amended procedure for the seizure of land in Moscow's "new territory" and in the Moscow Region which is needed to build transport infrastructure. The bill lays out simplified regulations for the allocation of land in "new Moscow" to speed up the area's urban development.

"The attitude of this kind of government action towards citizens is unacceptable, even if it is done for the noble purpose of urban development and transport construction," Kovpak said.

Then-president and current Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev came out with the idea of creating Greater Moscow in June 2011. The city will expand to a line lying 60 kilometers southwest of its center. In all, it will incorporate 21 new municipalities.