MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's lower house of parliament has voted overwhelmingly for a law that would ban the sale of agricultural land to foreigners, reversing an earlier vote to allow such sales.
In a 366-6 vote Friday, with two abstentions, the State Duma approved an amendment that would allow foreigners and foreign-owned organizations to lease farmland but not purchase it.
The amendment was tacked onto a Kremlin-sponsored bill that would allow the sale of Russian farmland for the first time since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
When the Duma gave tentative approval to the bill last month, it allowed foreigners to buy and sell farmland but gave local authorities wide discretion over whether to permit such sales.
Since then, many lawmakers and local officials warned the bill would allow foreigners to snap up Russia's best agricultural land, and this week President Vladimir Putin indicated he was opposed to immediate sale of farmland to foreigners.
Hundreds of Communists staged a noisy demonstration outside the Duma on Friday, railing against the idea of selling farmland to foreigners and calling for the resignation of Putin and his Cabinet for their initial support of the concept.
To become law, the bill must go through two more votes in the Duma and be approved by the upper house and Putin.
Most Russian agricultural land is controlled by collective farms that changed little since the Soviet era.
Reform supporters have long said that the heavily subsidized agriculture sector needs streamlining to make more effective use of Russia's farmland, which the Russian government values at $80-$1000 trillion.